{{Short description|American attorney and political advisor (born 1979)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Josh Hsu | image = Josh_Hsu_Holiday_Portrait2.png | office = [[Office of the Vice President of the United States|Counsel to the Vice President]] | term_start = January 20, 2021 | term_end = January 5, 2023 | vice_president = [[Kamala D. Harris]] | predecessor = [[Gregory Jacob]] | successor = [[Erica Songer]] | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1979}} | birth_place = [[Rio de Janeiro]], [[Brazil]] | death_date = | death_place = | party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] | education = [[Georgetown University]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]], [[Juris Doctor|JD]]) }}

'''Josh M. Hsu''' (born 1979) is a Taiwanese American attorney and political advisor who served as [[Special Assistant to the President|special assistant to the president]] and counsel to Vice President [[Kamala Harris]] from January 2021 to January 2023.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-01-20|title=White House Personnel {{!}} President-Elect Joe Biden|url=https://buildbackbetter.gov/nominees-and-appointees/white-house-personnel/|access-date=2021-12-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120162340/https://buildbackbetter.gov/nominees-and-appointees/white-house-personnel/ |archive-date=January 20, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Georgetown Law Faculty and Alumni Tapped to Serve in Biden-Harris Administration|url=https://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/georgetown-law-faculty-and-alumni-tapped-to-serve-in-biden-harris-administration/|access-date=2021-12-16|language=en-US}}</ref> In August 2020, Hsu joined the [[presidential transition of Joe Biden]] as director of judicial nominations,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-30|title=Biden team announces new staff picks, highlighting effort to 'build an administration that looks like America'|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/biden-team-announces-new-staff-picks-highlighting-effort-to-build-an-administration-that-looks-like-america|access-date=2021-12-16|website=PBS NewsHour|language=en-us}}</ref> and in 2024 joined the presidential transition of Kamala Harris.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodman |first=Jasper |date=2024-10-25 |title=Two White House aides jump to Harris transition |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/25/harris-white-house-aides-transition-team-00185455 |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref>

== Early life and education == Born in [[Rio de Janeiro]], [[Brazil]], Hsu was raised by two immigrant Taiwanese parents who ran a jewelry wholesale business in New York City.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-04|title=Vice President Kamala Harris Turns the Spotlight Over to Her AAPI Staffers|url=https://www.glamour.com/story/vice-president-kamala-harris-turns-the-spotlight-over-to-her-aapi-staffers|access-date=2021-12-16|website=Glamour|language=en-US}}</ref>

Hsu earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and English from [[Georgetown University]], where he graduated [[magna cum laude]] and was elected to [[Phi Beta Kappa]]. He received his [[Juris Doctor]] from the [[Georgetown University Law Center]] and was [[Order of the Coif]]. He served as a clerk for U.S. District Court Judge [[Denny Chin]] in the [[Southern District of New York]].

== Career == Hsu began his legal career as an associate at [[O'Melveny & Myers]] and focused on complex class action litigation. After his clerkship with Judge Denny Chin, Hsu worked as a First Amendment legal fellow at the [[American Civil Liberties Union]], where he worked on challenges to Connecticut's campaign finance law and represented clients in federal district court in matters involving suppression of speech. In 2008, Hsu joined the law firm of [[Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison]], where he continued to work on complex litigation matters in both federal and state courts.

In 2011, Hsu worked as counsel for the [[United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary]] and in the office of Ranking Member [[Patrick Leahy]]. In 2016, he was elevated to chief counsel for nominations, where he oversaw the judicial and executive branch nominees that appeared before the committee. Hsu served as lead counsel on legislative efforts to amend the [[Voting Rights Act]] after key provisions were struck down in ''[[Shelby County v. Holder]]''.

In 2017, Hsu was named general counsel to then-Senator [[Kamala Harris]], where he advised her on policy related to campaign finance, gun violence, voting, criminal justice reform, civil rights, law enforcement, and tech policy. In 2019, Hsu served as Harris's deputy chief of staff.

In September 2019, Hsu was named national policy director for [[Kamala Harris 2020 presidential campaign]]. In August 2020, Hsu became director of judicial nominations for the Biden–Harris Transition Team, where he advised and developed judicial nominations strategy for the [[Biden administration]].

In November 2022, Hsu announced that he was leaving the Biden-Harris Administration at the end of the year.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cai |first=Sophia |date=2022-11-23 |title=Kamala Harris' top legal counsel departing White House |url=https://www.axios.com/2022/11/23/josh-hsu-kamala-harris-counsel-leaving-white-house |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=Axios |language=en}}</ref> He left office on January 5, 2023<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.politico.com/newsletters/west-wing-playbook/2023/01/19/do-everything-that-trump-did-not-00078607 |title=West Wing Playbook: 'Do everything that Trump did not' |first1=Sam |last1=Stein |first2=Lauren |last2=Egan |first3=Eli |last3=Stokols |date=2023-01-19 |website=Politico |access-date=2023-01-19}}</ref> and will join [[Jenner & Block]] as a partner in its Government Controversies Practice.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thomsen |first=Jacqueline |date=2023-01-19 |title=Kamala Harris advisor joins Jenner & Block law firm in D.C. |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/kamala-harris-advisor-joins-jenner-block-law-firm-dc-2023-01-19/ |access-date=2023-01-26}}</ref>

In October 2024, Hsu was a member of the presidential transition of Kamala Harris,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodman |first=Jasper |date=2024-10-25 |title=Two White House aides jump to Harris transition |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/10/25/harris-white-house-aides-transition-team-00185455 |access-date=2025-01-09 |website=POLITICO |language=en}}</ref> where he served as Executive Director and managed the day-to-day operations of the organization, while building out a team and infrastructure for a potential presidential transition. He returned to Jenner as a partner in January 2025. In October 2025 he joined the mental health AI company Slingshot AI as General Counsel.

== Awards == In 2015, Hsu was recognized as one of the [[National Asian Pacific American Bar Association's]] (NAPABA) Best Lawyers Under 40.<ref>{{Cite web|date=December 30, 2020|title=NAPABA Congratulates Josh Hsu|url=https://www.napaba.org/general/custom.asp?page=20_12_Hsu_Josh|access-date=December 15, 2021|website=NAPABA}}</ref>

== References == <references />

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsu, Josh}} [[Category:1979 births]] [[Category:Biden administration personnel]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Georgetown University alumni]] [[Category:Washington, D.C., Democrats]] [[Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C.]] [[Category:Joe Biden 2020 presidential campaign]]