The Problem   In December 2015, there were 336 top Senate staffers (Chiefs of Staff, Legislative Directors, Communications Directors, and Staff Directors), but only 24 staffers of color–12 Asian Americans, 7 Latinos, 3 African Americans, and 2 Native Americans.   Black Latino AAPI Native Am. POC U.S. Population 13.3% 17.6% 5.8% 1.2% 37.9% Top Senate … Continue reading Joint Center Praises Leader Schumer on Staff Diversity Rules Yesterday, Roll Call published the text of diversity rules adopted by the U.S. Senate Democratic Conference last Tuesday. According to Roll Call, the rule reads as follows: “to the extent practicable, [Democratic] offices shall: (1) engage with the Senate Democratic Diversity Initiative to identify qualified candidates for vacancies; (2) engage with congressional staff associations and outside stakeholder groups that represent diversity to solicit résumés; and (3) interview diverse applicants for all vacancies.” The following is a statement by Spencer Overton, the President of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. “The Joint Center commends Leader Schumer for his leadership in this significant step to help diversify Democratic staff. Currently, only one of the top 336 Senate staffers is an African American Democrat, and there are no Black or Latino staff directors of full committees–Democrat or Republican. Leader Schumer has stepped up and committed to expanding the pool of diverse candidates in the interview process for his personal office, continued the Senate Diversity Initiative, and advocated for the adoption of these new conference rules. The Joint Center looks forward to working with the Democratic and Republican Senate and House offices to identify strong candidates of color for vacancies.