Sen. Chuck Schumer now leads the Senate Diversity Initiative. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
Staff members for 16 Senate Democrats have become less diverse over the last year and only six senators have a staff that is at or above 50% non-white, according to a comparison of the 2017 and 2018 reports released by the Senate Diversity Initiative.
What's happening: The group, started by Harry Reid in 2007, releases an annual report showing the breakdown of diversity among Senate Democrats' staff members.
Only 6 of the 19 Democratic committee's staff members (like Banking and Small Business) have become more diverse. And Delaware Sen. Tom Carper is the only Democrat to have a double-digit increase in staff members who identify as non-Caucasian.
Why it matters: Democrats pride themselves on being the big tent party, but their senators have some room to grow on hiring more diverse people to work with them.
- But there are signs that newly-elected senators are taking this seriously. Alabama Sen. Doug Jones' staff is 40% non-white — by far the highest among his colleagues.