WASHINGTON The lobbying of President-elect Donald Trump for federal appointments has begun.
The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and the Latino Victory Foundation fired off a letter to Trump Wednesday night urging him to be mindful of diversity when filling thousands of appointments in his administration.
The letter notes Trump’s Election Night victory remarks that, “Now is the time for America to bind the wounds of division…. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people.”
November 10, 2016 ">
“We are writing to accept your offer to work with you to help ensure the future success of our nation,” the letter states. “Specifically, we would like to work with you to identify strong candidates of color for federal appointments.”
The White House appoints more than 6,000 positions, including 1,600 senior appointments, according to the Joint Center and Latino Victory Foundation. The people in those jobs collectively manage more than 2 million people and oversee budgets totaling over $3.5 trillion, the two groups say.
We would like to meet with your transition team to explain our process, and talk about workingtogether moving forward
Letter from Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and Latino Victory Foundation on diversity in Trump administration appointments
Although African Americans and Latinos account for nearly 30 percent of the U.S. population, they represented “only 8.7 percent of appointees in the last full non-election year of the George W. Bush Administration,” the letter to Trump states.
A 2015 Joint Center report found that 7.1 percent of top Senate staff positions are held by minorities.
The groups didn’t provide information on African American and Latino appointments during the Obama administration.
However, a 2015 study by a University of California at Berkeley law professor found that of 80 top policy positions that require Senate confirmation, 53.5 percent of those spots were filled with women and minorities during Obama’s administration, compared with 25.6 percent during George W. Bush’s presidency and 37.5 percent under Bill Clinton.