Disha Banik

Senior Legislative Assistant, Office of Congressman Hakeem Jeffries

Disha Banik is a Senior Legislative Assistant for Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Chair of the U.S. House Democratic Caucus.  She advances foreign affairs, trade, and defense policy through Congress.  Previously, she was a Legislative Correspondent for former U.S. Senator and current NASA Administrator Bill Nelson (D-FL) and a Paralegal for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  Disha drove the enactment of Representative Jeffries’ Haiti Development, Accountability, and Institutional Transparency Initiative Act (Public Law No: 117-103) to revamp the U.S.-Haiti strategy and improve good governance and sustainable development in Haiti.  Signed by President Biden in March 2022, the law also served as the vehicle for $13.6 billion in humanitarian, economic, and defense aid to Ukraine a month after it was invaded by Russia, as well as the fiscal year 2022 government funding package.  Disha also championed the enactment of Representative Jeffries’ Malala Yousafzai Scholarship Act (Public Law No: 116-338), signed by President Trump in January 2021. The law on girls’ education requires the U.S. Agency for International Development to award at least 50% of scholarships under a higher education program in Pakistan to women.  Born in India and raised in California, Disha holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and minor in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley.  She also earned a master’s degree in global health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.