(TriceEdneyWire.com) – The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington D.C. think tank for Black-elected officials, is angry that only 5.1% of Blacks and 17.9% of people of color are hired for the nation’s top jobs in the 118th Congress, which began meeting January 3, 2023.
Top staff positions include chiefs of staff, legislative directors, and communication directors.
“These low numbers are concerning because people of color account for 40% of the U.S. population, and Blacks account for 12.4% of the population,” the Joint wrote in ‘Update of Racial Diversity of the Top Staff Hires in 118thCongress.’
The Joint Center’s midterm hiring campaign microsite, which went live on November 2022, features several interactive tools monitoring staff of all new and returning members. More than 93.6% of the top positions (1,499 of 1,602) have already been filled as of February 17, 2023.
Of the 1,011 top staff positions filled by returning House members, this number also lags behind the national population.
Returning Senate members’ counties also lag behind the diversity of the national population.
The 205 newly elected House members, continue to be behind the national population of 40% for people of color and Blacks.
Of the newly elected Senators, only diverse top staffers accounted for 8.3%, which is lower than the U.S. population.
