Racial Diversity Among Top Staff in the U.S. House of Representatives
This report, “Racial Diversity Among Top Staff in the U.S. House of Representatives,” provides evidence regarding the lack of racial diversity among top staff in the U.S. House of Representatives. This report defines top staff as chiefs of staff, legislative directors, and communications directors in the Washington, D.C. personal offices of U.S. House members; chiefs of staff, policy directors, and communications directors in the top leadership offices of each political party; and staff directors assigned to full committees. The data reflects House employment on June 30, 2022.
Key findings show:
- People of color account for 40 percent of the U.S. population, but only 18 percent of all top House staff.
- Of the 308 personal offices of white members, only 23 (7.4 percent) are led by chiefs of staff of color. Thirteen work for Democratic members, and ten for Republican members.
- In the personal offices of white Democratic members, 14.8 percent of top staff are people of color, even though these offices represent districts that are, on average, over 38.9 percent people of color. Similarly, 3.2 percent of white Democratic members’ top staffers are Black.
- In the personal offices of white Republican members, only 5.1 percent of top staff are people of color, even though these members represent districts that are, on average, 25.7 percent people of color. Similarly, 1.1 percent of these members’ top staffers are Black.
- No Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI), biracial, Middle Eastern/North African (MENA), or Native American serves in any of the 41 committee staff director positions or any of the 20 top staff positions in the top leadership offices of either party.
- Congressional Black Caucus members are responsible for 80 percent (four of the five) of Black staff directors hired to full committees in the U.S. House.
- Members who belong to more left-leaning caucuses have more top staff of color than members of more conservative caucuses. People of color make up 40 percent of the top staffers who work for members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, compared with 23.6 percent of top staffers who work for Blue Dog Coalition members. Only 9.2 percent of top staffers who work for members of the House Freedom Caucus are people of color, but that percentage is higher than the 5.1 percent of top staffers who work for white Republican members as a whole.
- Between 2018 and 2022, the percentage of people of color in House personal office top staff positions increased from 13.7 percent to 18 percent. We observed increases in diversity in all top positions in House personal offices, but the most significant increase was among legislative directors, which increased by almost seven percentage points.
For coverage of the report see The Hill and Roll Call.
Racial Diversity Among Top Staff in Senate Personal Offices
This report, Racial Diversity Among Top Staff in Senate Personal Offices, provides evidence regarding the need for more racial diversity among U.S. Senate personal office top staff. In this report, top staff include all chiefs of staff, legislative directors, and communications directors in the Washington, DC personal offices of U.S. senators. The data reflects Senate employment as of June 30, 2023. Key findings show:
- People of color make up 41.1 percent of the U.S. population, but only 15.8 percent of all Senate personal office top staff. African Americans account for 13.6 percent of the U.S. population, but only 2.1 percent of Senate personal office top staffers. Latina/os make up 19.1 percent of the U.S. population, but only 5.8 percent of Senate personal office top staffers. Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders are 6.6 percent of the U.S. population, but only 4.5 percent of Senate personal office top staffers.
- Between 2020 and 2023, the overall percentage of personal office top staff of color increased from 11.0 percent to 15.8 percent, but the percentage of African American top staff decreased. The percentage of African American top staff decreased (from 3.1 percent to 2.1 percent) but increased among Senate personal office top staff who are Latina/o (from 3.8 percent to 5.8 percent), Native American (from 0 percent to 0.3 percent), and Asian American/Pacific Islander (from 2.7 percent to 4.5 percent).
- Senate personal offices representing states with large shares of Black or Latina/o residents hire relatively few Black or Latina/o top staffers. African Americans account for an average of 27.2 percent of the population in ten states (AL, DE, GA, LA, MD, MS, NC, NY, SC, and VA), yet hold only 5.2 percent of the total top staff positions in these states’ U.S. Senate personal offices. Latina/os account for an average of 30.3 percent of the population in ten states (AZ, CA, CO, FL, IL, NJ, NM, NV, NY, and TX), yet hold 20.7 percent of the top staff positions in these states’ Senate personal offices.
- Democrats employ more personal office top staff of color than Republicans. People of color make up 14.0 percent of Republican voters and 7.1 percent of Republican Senate personal office top staff. People of color account for 36.0 percent of Democratic voters, but only 24.0 percent of Democratic Senate personal office top staff. African Americans are 17.0 percent of Democratic registered voters, but only 4.0 percent of Democratic Senate personal office top staff.
- None of the Black top staff hired as of January 2020 were retained as of June 2023. In examining top staff recruitment and retention, we observed that Black top staffers’ retention and hiring patterns are unique. All six current Black top staffers previously worked for other Senate offices, whereas a portion of the staffers from other racial/ethnic backgrounds in this report obtained these positions through internal promotions within the same office.
This report was exclusively covered by The Hill. The report was also covered by BET.