Leaders of the congressional minority caucuses are demanding the restoration of the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI).
“Congress works best when its workforce truly reflects the diversity of our nation,” the chairs of the Congressional Tri-Caucus – composed of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus – wrote in a letter to Democratic House leaders.
“ODI’s work has helped tremendously to improve the congressional workplace through its mission and work in Member services, research and data analytics, and professional development for all Congressional staff,” they added.
Chairs of the caucus include Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) of the Congressional Black Caucus and Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-Calif.) of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
The chairs sent their letter to Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Rep. Joseph Morelle (D-N.Y.), ranking member for the Committee on House Administration and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member for the Committee on Appropriations.
The ODI was disbanded last month as part of a government spending bill in the latest blow to the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) movement, which has faced growing criticism from Republicans over the past several years.
The chairs argued in their letter, however, that the ODI helped more than 2,600 jobseekers and conducted over 1,500 consultations with employing offices.
The office also referred over 6,400 resumes for consideration to hiring managers and helped approximately 730 jobseekers land congressional careers.
They also argued the office’s research shed light on the state of workforce representation, compensation, benefits and demographic makeup of the U.S. House of Representatives workforce.
A 2022 ODI study showed that when compared to external benchmarks, 64 percent of House jobs have disproportionately fewer Black staffers, 58 percent have disproportionately fewer Hispanic, Latino or Spanish staffers, and 57 percent have disproportionately fewer Asian American staffers.
“Despite ODI’s record of service, Republican lawmakers are so eager to score political points by eliminating all diversity and inclusion programs that they undercut a non-partisan office that dozens of their own Members have used to identify highly qualified candidates that they went on to hire,” their letter stated.
Still, the Fiscal Year 2024 Legislative Branch Appropriations protected non-partisan staff and critical functions of ODI under the Chief Administrative Officer.
But with November’s approaching election, the caucus chairs said they are eager to work with Democratic leadership to fully restore and protect the ODI for future congressional sessions.
“House Democrats have a critical opportunity to strengthen equity for communities of color in how they are represented in the governing bodies of our nation,” the letter said. “The American people are best served when Members of Congress—as well as their staff—reflect the great diversity of our country.”