Just 21.4% of mid-level Senate staff are people of color, despite people of color making up more than 41% of the total U.S. population, according to a new report.
Oreportconducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, found that African Americans make up 13.6% of the U.S. population, but only 5.4% of the Senate staff, or positions held on the path to senior positions such as chief cabinet or legislative. or communications director
Additionally, Latinos make up 19.1% of the U.S. population but only 6.8% of Senate prep staff and Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders make up 6.6% of the U.S. population but only 5.4% of the preparatory staff for the Senate.
“The need for greater diversity among preparatory staff is a challenge that the Senate, as an institution, must address,” the report states. “Congressional decisions affect all Americans, and the lack of racial diversity among personal staff undermines senators’ understanding of the diverse perspectives of their constituents.”
The report found that black staff have the most significant difference between senior staff and preparatory staff. As of 2023, African Americans make up 2.1% of senior Senate staff but 5.4% of Senate preparatory staff.
Its authors noted that staff of color are more common in Democratic offices than in Republican offices, although both fail to represent the voter base.
According to the report, 14 percent of people of color identify as Republican voters in 2022, but only 9.7 percent of Republican track folks are people of color. And although people of color made up 36 percent of Democratic voters two years ago, just 30.4 percent of the Democratic staff in the Senate are people of color.
Black senators employ the most black path staff, the researchers found.
Although there are only four black senators serving today – Democrats Cory Booker (NJ), Raphael Warnock (Georgia) and Laphonza Butler (California) and Republican Tim Scott (SC) – they employ 21.1% of all black Senate staff .
A clear age difference was also present in the report.
Senators under the age of 60 had the highest percentage of black staff, 29.6%. Senators ages 60 to 69 employed about 14.8% of staff of color and senators over 70 employed 19.5% of staff of color.
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies began to highlight racial diversity among senior Senate staff in 2015. While steps have been taken to improve staff transparency and diversity, the report states, there are still steps that can be taken.
While Senate Democrats have led both chambers in releasing racial and ethnic data on the staffing of Democratic senators’ personal offices and committees, the report calls on Senate Democrats to release data on diversity by position to help “reveal which cadres of senators are diverse in critical terms”. positions that can serve as conduits to top positions.”
Senate Republicans have not yet publicly released any data on the diversity of their staff, so the report’s authors “conducted an online search of photographs of Senate staffers with links to current and former jobs.”
“The authors obtained data from multiple sources, including LegiStorm, X (formally Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube, Wikipedia, Roll Call, The Hill, National Journal, constituent photographs, wedding announcements, and press interviews.”
The center, in Wednesday’s report, called on Senate Republicans to immediately release diversity data and report it annually.
“Both Senate Republicans and Democrats should work together to develop a diversity plan that assists Senate offices in recruiting, hiring, training, promoting, and retaining a diverse Senate staff,” the report added.
The center also used the report to call for the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), which was disbanded in March, to be replaced in some way.
“By closing ODI, we are not just losing an office; we are losing ground in our collective quest for a truly representative democracy,” the report states. “The Joint Center calls on the surrogate office – the Office of Talent Management under the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer – to build on the excellent work of the ODI and create a central data repository to help guide efforts to make the House of Representatives a force of more diverse work.”
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