Kirtan Mehta has been named senior vice president for congressional relations of the American Bankers Association (ABA).

Mehta will lead the ABA’s lobbying efforts with the Senate Democratic Caucus, including senate leadership and banking committee members.

Mehta comes to the ABA after serving as legislative director and chief counsel for Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-West Virginia). Before that, he served as principal banking and housing advisor to Manchin during his tenure on the senate banking committee.

Prior to this, Mehta worked as an associate at Zuckerman Spaeder LLP of Washington, D.C. and as an associate at Winston & Strawn LLP of Chicago.
“Kirtan’s wealth of experience and proven track record will be extremely valuable as we work to educate lawmakers about banking’s most important issues,” James Ballentine, ABA’s executive vice president of congressional relations and political affairs, said in a statement. “His thorough knowledge of both banking and housing make him a tremendous addition to ABA’s government relations team.”

Mehta is a native of Illinois and a graduate of Harvard Law School.