WASHINGTON — House aides write federal policy and multitrillion-dollar budgets, oversee the administration of government and shape the public’s view of Congress, but the top staff members of the House of Representatives are far less racially diverse than the country itself — or even the lawmakers who employ them. That compares with 38 percent of the country as a whole, and 23 percent of the House. Of the 40 top Democratic and Republican aides who lead the staffs of House committees, the panels at the center of nearly all congressional legislation and oversight, only six are nonwhite. This is a structural issue,” Spencer Overton, the president of the Joint Center, said in an interview. They hope the report will prod lawmakers as they assemble teams to help shape the agenda of the new Congress.

Source: New York Times September 11, 2018 19:00 UTC