Congressional Staff Diversity
Dr. Jones is a leading expert on congressional staff diversity. He has authored three groundbreaking policy reports on racial representation among congressional staff. His research demonstrates that racial minorities are underrepresented in both top and junior staff positions on Capitol Hill.
Who Congress Pays: Analysis of Lawmakers’ Use of Intern Allowances in the 116th Congress
Our report documents that most members of Congress used the funds to pay their interns. We examined how lawmakers used these funds and investigated who they hired. Specifically, we focused on the time period between April and September 2019, when all lawmakers first had access to these funds, and when they typically hire their largest cohorts of interns each year.
Highlights from this report include:
Whites are overrepresented as paid interns.
We found White students were overrepresented in paid congressional internship positions. In addition, we found Black and Latino students were underrepresented in these same paid positions.
From April to September 2019, interns in Congress were 76.3 percent White, 6.7 percent Black, 7.9 percent Latino, 7.9 percent Asian/Pacific Islander, and .03 percent American Indian/ Alaska Native.
White students make up only 52 percent of the national undergraduate student population, but accounted for 76 percent of paid interns. Black and Latino students were underrepresented as interns. Blacks and Latinos make up 15 and 20 percent of the undergraduate student population, but accounted for 6.7 and 7.9 percent of paid interns, respectively.
Students who attend private universities and college are overrepresented as interns.
from We found nearly 50 percent of paid interns attended or are currently attending private universities compared to only 25 percent of undergraduate students nationally. Meanwhile, a slight majority of paid interns attended public universities (51 percent); this percentage was significantly lower than the rate undergraduate students attended public universities nationally (74.4 percent).
Congress does not pay enough
We found the average total stipend per intern was approximately $1,986.75 in the Senate and $1,612.53 in the House.
These data suggest an unequal racial and economic makeup of legislative interns. Unequal access to congressional internships, especially those that are paid, in effect, disproportionately hands White students an important employment credential. This sets them on a career path to become political elites who hold considerable influence in the creation of public policy, and perhaps become elected officials themselves.
The Color of Congress: Racial Representation Among Interns in the U.S. House of Representatives
Congressional internships matter. These work opportunities are an expression of democratic citizenship that support the day-to-day operations of the federal legislature, they train and socialize political novices to lawmaking, and they provide a pipeline to paid employment and elective office.
Despite the importance of congressional internships, we know surprisingly little about the administration of these programs. There is no institution-wide recordkeeping about who interns on Capitol Hill or in congressional districts. In addition, the intern hiring process and, more broadly, congressional staff hiring processes are notoriously opaque. This landmark report sheds light on the racial makeup of congressional interns in the House of Representatives. Data from survey conducted in July 2019.
Highlights from this report include:
Congress is racially segregated. The racial identity of a House member affects the racial makeup of the staff that hires and manages interns.
The offices of White members were three times more likely to have White interns and White intern coordinators than offices of non-White members, regardless of political party.
When removing members of the Congressional Tri-Caucus, there is no difference in the racial makeup of interns between White Democratic and White Republican House members.
Latino students are severely underrepresented. Only 5 percent of all congressional interns are Latino, even though they comprise 20 percent of the national undergraduate student population.
There is little to no information about congressional internship programs and who they employ. Over a third of House offices surveyed refused to participate stating “it was against office policy.” This lack of transparency is a key driver in ensuring the lack of racial diversity in the congressional workplace.
Unequal access to congressional internships creates a favored class of people with career paths to become political elites that influence policy, or to become elected officials.
In the 116th Congress, 18.5 percent of all House members had intern or staffer experience in Congress prior to elected office.
Racial Diversity among top Senate Staff
The report is critical to understanding diversity among top staff in the U.S. Senate, including chiefs of staff, legislative directors, and communications directors in Washington, DC personal offices of U.S. Senators, as well as staff directors assigned to committees. Data reflect Senate employment in April 2015.
Key findings:
People of color make up over 36 percent of the U.S. population, but only 7.1 percent of top Senate staffers.
Latinos make up over 16 percent of the U.S. population, but only 2.1 percent of top Senate staffers.
African-Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, but only 0.9 percent of top Senate staffers.
Senate offices representing states with large Hispanic and African-American populations hire few senior staffers of color.
While those who self-identified as Democrats nationwide were 22 percent African-American and 13 percent Latino, top Democratic U.S. Senate staff as a group is 0.7 percent African-American and 2.0 percent Latino.