Congressional Staff Diversity
Dr. Jones is a leading expert on congressional staff diversity. He has authored three groundbreaking policy reports on racial representation among congressional staff. His research demonstrates that racial minorities are underrepresented in both top and junior staff positions on Capitol Hill.
The Color of Congress: Racial Representation Among Interns in the U.S. House of Representatives
Congressional internships matter. These work opportunities are an expression of democratic citizenship that support the day-to-day operations of the federal legislature, they train and socialize political novices to lawmaking, and they provide a pipeline to paid employment and elective office.
Despite the importance of congressional internships, we know surprisingly little about the administration of these programs. There is no institution-wide recordkeeping about who interns on Capitol Hill or in congressional districts. In addition, the intern hiring process and, more broadly, congressional staff hiring processes are notoriously opaque. This landmark report sheds light on the racial makeup of congressional interns in the House of Representatives. Data from survey conducted in July 2019.
Highlights from this report include:
Congress is racially segregated. The racial identity of a House member affects the racial makeup of the staff that hires and manages interns.
The offices of White members were three times more likely to have White interns and White intern coordinators than offices of non-White members, regardless of political party.
When removing members of the Congressional Tri-Caucus, there is no difference in the racial makeup of interns between White Democratic and White Republican House members.
Latino students are severely underrepresented. Only 5 percent of all congressional interns are Latino, even though they comprise 20 percent of the national undergraduate student population.
There is little to no information about congressional internship programs and who they employ. Over a third of House offices surveyed refused to participate stating “it was against office policy.” This lack of transparency is a key driver in ensuring the lack of racial diversity in the congressional workplace.
Unequal access to congressional internships creates a favored class of people with career paths to become political elites that influence policy, or to become elected officials.
In the 116th Congress, 18.5 percent of all House members had intern or staffer experience in Congress prior to elected office.
Racial Diversity among top Senate Staff
The report is critical to understanding diversity among top staff in the U.S. Senate, including chiefs of staff, legislative directors, and communications directors in Washington, DC personal offices of U.S. Senators, as well as staff directors assigned to committees. Data reflect Senate employment in April 2015.
Key findings:
People of color make up over 36 percent of the U.S. population, but only 7.1 percent of top Senate staffers.
Latinos make up over 16 percent of the U.S. population, but only 2.1 percent of top Senate staffers.
African-Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, but only 0.9 percent of top Senate staffers.
Senate offices representing states with large Hispanic and African-American populations hire few senior staffers of color.
While those who self-identified as Democrats nationwide were 22 percent African-American and 13 percent Latino, top Democratic U.S. Senate staff as a group is 0.7 percent African-American and 2.0 percent Latino.