Democratic lawmakers are calling on President-elect Joe Biden to pick ambassadors with the same focus on diversity he used to fill his Cabinet, according to a letter obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: The demand for more minorities representing the country abroad shows how some Democratic interest groups will hold Biden to his diversity pledge throughout the federal government, including his sub-Cabinet, U.S. attorneys and diplomats.
Reps. Joaquin Castro and Veronica Escobar wrote this weekend in a joint letter to Tony Blinken, Biden's nominee for secretary of state, to discuss the "grave disparities in racial and ethnic minority representation in the Foreign Service."
Escobar (D-Texas) said, “Ambassadorial appointments, Foreign Service and Civil Service employees must reflect our broad diversity and the full breadth of American ingenuity and intellect."
Castro (D-Texas) wrote: "People are policy — and the diplomats who represent the United States to the world should reflect the diversity of the American people."
While under-representation predated President Trump, he appointed white people to more than 90% of his openings, Foreign Policy reported in 2018.
The big picture: The congressional call for ambassadorial diversity will complicate the ambitions of big-dollar Democratic donors, who hope to be rewarded for their fundraising prowess with postcard embassies in Western Europe, South America and the Caribbean.
Those plum posts have traditionally gone to donors or politicians representing about a third of the roughly 190 available ambassadorships.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) railed against the bipartisan practice of turning donors into diplomats during the campaign.
The president-elect was noncommittal on the campaign trail, saying, “I’m going to appoint the best people possible,” AP reported.
By the numbers: Trump picked more political ambassadors than his immediate predecessors, naming non-State Department employees like Gordon Sondland — a West Coast hotelier and GOP donor who served as ambassador to the European Union.
Under President Obama, 30% of his ambassadors came from the political or donor world, leaving some 70% for the diplomatic corps.
For President George W. Bush, the ratio was 32% to 68%.
Go deeper: The State Department has struggled to achieve greater minority representation in its upper ranks, with a Government Accountability Office report last year showing people of color make up 14% of the senior officers in the Foreign Service and 24% of the overall workforce.
Out of 189 U.S. ambassadors serving abroad last summer, three were Black and four were Hispanic career diplomats, according to the American Academy of Diplomacy.
"The President-elect and Secretary-designate Blinken know that the power of our example is strongest when we are leveraging diversity — especially among women, people of color, LGBTQ+, and other under-represented groups — at all levels, including senior leadership," said Ned Price, a transition spokesman.
Biden's team looks "forward to working with Congress on this task," Price said.