Congressional offices urgently need racial diversity

In January, the 119th Congress will commence after a divisive election season resulting in historic firsts, including the election of two Black women as senators, changing demographics among the electorate and the first Black and Asian woman to run for president on a major-party ticket.

Amid this political backdrop, new and returning members of Congress will grapple with critical issues affecting our increasingly diverse nation. Reaching their policy goals and meeting the needs of their diverse constituencies will depend, in part, on how well congressional staff can represent, understand and provide policy solutions for the problems facing this nation.

Unfortunately, diversity among congressional top staff (i.e., chiefs of staff, legislative directors and communications directors) falls short of the diversity of the U.S.

A 2023 Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies report found that while non-whites account for 41.1 percent of the U.S. population, they only account for 15.8 percent of top staff in the personal offices of U.S. senators. Similarly, a 2022 report found that people of color account for only 18 percent of top House staff. This glaring lack of diversity is the catalyst for the Joint Center’s congressional hiring campaign, which launched this month to track the racial makeup of top staff hires of newly elected and returning members of Congress.

It is disappointing that congressional offices, including those with diverse populations among their constituencies, have little to no representation among staff making decisions on Capitol Hill. While people of color are unfortunately underrepresented in various occupations, a lack of diversity on Capitol Hill warrants special attention; congressional decisions affect all Americans, and congressional office staff are responsible for making major decisions in the U.S. Congress.

The lack of racial diversity among pathway (i.e., deputy chiefs of staff, senior advisers, legislative assistants, counsels, press secretaries and deputy communications directors) and top staff is not a partisan issue but a challenge that the U.S. Congress — as an institution — must address.

For example, while Senate Democrats employed more personal office top staff of color than Senate Republicans in 2023, both parties fall short. 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.

To be sure, I do not claim that white staff cannot represent diverse communities, nor that proportional representation is a panacea. But I maintain that the considerable influence of top staff in shaping the U.S. Senate, combined with the lack of racial diversity among top staff, stifles adequate representation of all U.S. citizens.

In addition to the critical need to have a more racially representative top staff, the lack of racial diversity among more junior staff further impairs the abilities of members of Congress to understand their constituencies' diverse perspectives.

A recent Joint Center report found that just 21.4 percent of pathway staff in the Senate are people of color. The lack of diversity not only affects the important pathway roles but also affects the ability of these staff to be promoted to top staff positions. Joining a congressional personal office often commences with occupying a position where low compensation, long hours and an insular culture are commonplace, which can present unique barriers for staffers of color. This is especially true in a city with a high cost of living like Washington. These factors combined contribute to the proverbial glass ceiling that staffers of color especially face.

We need decisive and bipartisan action to make congressional offices more representative of the communities they serve. Beyond the surveys from the House Office of Diversity Inclusion, which is now disbanded, and the Senate Democratic Diversity Initiative, Congress keeps no central repository of disaggregated data to help guide efforts to make its workforce more diverse. If Congress does not know the demographic makeup of its workforce, it cannot fully address the challenges and opportunities of staff diversity and inclusion.

Nonpartisan Senate and House diversity and inclusion offices could collect detailed demographic data, analyze trends in every office, and work with offices to develop diversity inclusion plans that help members of Congress ensure that their offices represent the diversity of this country. It's time to take the next step toward making Congress more diverse and inclusive. This requires commitment from both parties and nonpartisan Senate and House offices focused on ensuring congressional staff represent the diversity of our nation.

LaShonda Brenson, Ph.D., is senior researcher at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and leads the organization’s Hill Diversity work.