Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
      • U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik wants to elect more Republican women into office

        Barbara Rodriguez · August 13
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
      • Meet J. Michelle Childs, South Carolina judge and possible Supreme Court contender

        Candice Norwood · February 18
      • ‘The bench is loaded’: A record number of Latinas are running for governor

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 11
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: The governor’s races we’re watching in 2022

        Barbara Rodriguez · May 3
      • The 19th Explains: What to know about Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing

        Candice Norwood, Terri Rupar · March 21
      • The 19th Explains: Colleges are dropping the SAT in admissions. That’s a good thing for most girls.

        Nadra Nittle · March 3
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
      • Girls are being socialized to lose political ambition — and it starts younger than we realized

        Barbara Rodriguez · September 23
      • Kathy Hochul’s rise in New York spotlights the barriers to women becoming governors

        Barbara Rodriguez · August 23
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
      • LGBTQ+ seniors fear having to go back in closet for the care they need

        Sara Luterman · October 12
      • The pandemic continues to strain nursing homes. What happens if a lot of them close?

        Mariel Padilla · September 9
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Donate to get our member newsletter

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Politics

Biden promised the most diverse administration ever. Here’s how he’s doing.

Seven figures that show the representation — and the gaps — in President Joe Biden's Cabinet and federal appointments.

Mariel Padilla

General Assignment Reporter

Mariel Padilla portrait

Published

2021-04-30 10:23
10:23
April 30, 2021
am

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Be the first to read our 100 days coverage. Subscribe to our newsletter today.

President Joe Biden promised to have a Cabinet that reflected the diversity of the country. 

Alongside Kamala Harris, the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to be vice president, Biden said last December before announcing some of his Cabinet nominees: “I promise you, you’ll see the most diverse Cabinet representative of all folks — Asian Americans, African Americans, Latinos, LGBTQ — across the board.”

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

In addition to the Cabinet, which includes the vice president and the heads of 15 executive departments, presidents fill roughly 4,000 politically appointed positions, including more than 1,200 that must be confirmed by the Senate. 

Multiple groups gather data on diversity in the administration. The 19th spoke to experts at the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit that provides consulting services to government agencies; the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP); and Inclusive America, a nonprofit dedicated to government diversity.

According to the Partnership for Public Service, which tracks Biden’s appointees in collaboration with The Washington Post, 41 people had been confirmed by the Senate as of April 29, out of 220 who had been nominated. In comparison, 28 appointees had been confirmed in the Trump administration at the 100-day mark. Former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush had 67 and 34, respectively. 

A newsletter you can relate to

Storytelling that represents you, delivered to your inbox.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Here’s where the Biden administration stands after 100 days in office: 

58 percent of Biden’s agency appointees are women.

Kristine Simmons, the vice president of government affairs at the Partnership for Public Service, said Biden is the first president in modern history to appoint more women than men in his first 100 days. 

Of the 1,500 agency appointees thus far, about 58 percent are women, according to the White House. 

Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics, said  about 44 percent of the 25 Cabinet and Cabinet-level senior positions, including the vice presidency, are held by women, the highest level for any president. The first woman to be appointed to a Cabinet or Cabinet-level position was Frances Perkins, named secretary of labor in 1933. Since then, only 64 women have held such positions — including the 11 in Biden’s administration.

The administration has at least 16 high-level “firsts.” 

More than a dozen of Biden’s chosen leaders are breaking new ground, the first in their community to hold a position. 

  • Kamala Harris is the first woman, Black person and person of South Asian descent to be vice president
  • Janet Yellen is the first woman to be secretary of the treasury 
  • Deb Haaland, the secretary of the interior, is the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary
  • Cecilia Rouse is the first woman of color to chair the Council of Economic Advisors
  • Katherine Tai is the first woman of color to serve as U.S. trade representative
  • Avril Haines is the first woman to lead the U.S. intelligence community
  • Wendy Sherman is the first woman to serve as Deputy Secretary of State
  • Kathleen Hicks is the first woman to serve as Deputy Secretary of Defense
  • Karine Jean-Pierre is the first openly lesbian person to serve as the vice presidential chief of staff
  • Rachel Levine is the first openly transgender person to be confirmed by the Senate
  • Pete Buttigieg is the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve in the Cabinet
  • Lloyd Austin is the first Black secretary of defense
  • Alejandro Mayorkas is the first Latino and immigrant to serve as secretary of homeland security
  • Xavier Becerra is the first Latino to serve as secretary of health and human services 
  • Wally Adeyamo is the first Black man to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
  • For the first time, the communications team is comprised of all women

Prior to this administration, President Bill Clinton had the most diverse Cabinet when it comes to race and gender, according to Suzanne Chod, a professor of political science at North Central College in Illinois. 

Biden has been delegating quite a bit of responsibility to Harris and the Cabinet secretaries — giving them “real authority,” Chod said. 

Related Articles

  • Kamala Harris has been VP for 99 days. Here’s what her tenure looks like so far.
  • We don’t really know if vaccines have been distributed equitably
  • As America’s first working first lady, Jill Biden redefines the role
  • Where Biden stands on his promises on LGBTQ+ rights — and what’s next

“It’s not just enough to have someone in the literal room where decisions are made,” Chod said. “It’s about that person’s voice being equal to everyone else in the room.” 

Historically, one of the challenges to increasing diversity has been a reluctance to make commitments along lines of identity, Dittmar said. Presidential candidates feared they would open themselves up for false accusations of choosing people based on demographics instead of merit. In fact, women and people of color tend to have greater qualifications because the bar is often higher, she said.

For the first time in two decades, there is no Asian American Cabinet secretary. 

Mark Hanis, co-founder of Inclusive America, said that for the first time in decades, there is no Asian American or Pacific Islander Cabinet secretary.

The statutory Cabinet includes the vice president and the leaders of 15 executive departments. Biden has designated nine other officials as part of the Cabinet. One is Tai, the U.S. trade representative and only Asian American in a Cabinet-level position. Neera Tanden, a South Asian American, was also poised to land a Cabinet-level position until Senate opposition sank her nomination to lead the Office of Management and Budget. 

About 15 percent of Biden’s total agency appointees identify as AAPI — more than double the percentage of Asian Americans in the total U.S. population.

About 15 percent of appointees identify as Latinx.

According to the White House, 15 percent of Biden’s 1,500 hired appointees identify as Latinx, while they account for nearly 19 percent of the total U.S. population. 

However, there is a gap in Latinx representation in senior positions, Hanis said. Only 3.8 percent of deputy secretaries and no chiefs of staff identify as Latinx. 

Only 3 percent of appointees identify as disabled or having a disability.

Hanis said the biggest diversity gap he has seen is the representation of people with disabilities. About 1 in 4 Americans live with a disability, he said, and yet only 3 percent of all appointees identify as disabled. 

When it comes to leadership, the disparity is wider. Hanis said he is not aware of any senior officials that have disabilities.

About 48 percent of Cabinet-level officials attended an Ivy League school.

Nearly half of the current Cabinet-level officials have attended an Ivy League school, according to data compiled by Inclusive America. Twelve of the 25 Cabinet and Cabinet-level officials went to Harvard, Yale, University of Pennsylvania or Princeton.

Diversity goes beyond demographic identity, Dittmar said. True representation is more directly tied to different lived experiences. 

“Having everybody come from Harvard or come from a wealthier, privileged background is problematic even if it is 50/50 women and men,” Dittmar said. 

The White House says it has set a record on getting people into administration jobs. 

The White House says that it has appointed nearly 1,500 people who don’t need to be confirmed by the Senate and that more than half are women and half identify as non-White. 

The goal is to get parity at every level of government.

“I think there’s a way to do it if you’re intentional,” Hanis said. “That’s a big mantra with those of us in the diversity, equity and inclusion space. It doesn’t just happen.”

Too often, people are chosen based on their networks, Dittmar said. It’s important that there is an access and pipeline to these powerful positions for minority groups.

“Diversity begets diversity,” Dittmar said.

Chod said this is the largest effort she’s seen to have a diverse administration — a push that is long overdue and must continue. 

“We have to go back to the root of the inequity,” Chod said. “…  It can’t just be a band-aid fix. We have to get to the root of it and open up that wound.” 

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Building stronger together.

A new model for nonprofit journalism: For our readers. For our team. For our community.

Become a member

Sign up for our newsletter

Up Next

Protesters hold anti-abortion and abortion-rights signs in front of the Supreme Court.

Health

‘There isn’t a sense of this slowing down’: 2021 could be the year of abortion restrictions

Statehouses are on track to pass an unprecedented level of abortion restrictions this year, with 28 signed into law this past week.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram