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Caught Our Eye

House kicks off 118th Congress with its whitest staff force in years

Posted by Keturah Hetrick on Jan. 3, 2023

The 118th Congress is the House's most racially diverse yet. But its staffer makeup hasn't been this white in years.

Non-white staffers now make up about 25% of the House's workforce, according to LegiStorm data. That's a smaller proportion of racial minorities than among current elected representatives, 29% of whom are non-white.

Racial minorities made up 27% of staff last session. This year represents the lowest proportion of non-white staffers since the 115th Congress, when 28% of staffers were racial minorities.

House Republicans employ a slightly higher proportion of non-white staffers now (8%) compared to last session (7%). While House Democrats employ a higher proportion of racial minorities (31%) than Republicans, their racial-minority hiring rate has fallen since last session's 33%.

This racial makeup is likely to change further as Democrats lose the majority in committees and leadership offices and Republicans staff up instead.