US President Joe Biden pledged that his cabinet would be the most diverse in history and reflect the demographic make-up of America. His team has posted his picks for his 25 cabinet-level positions on the White House’s official website. Note that there are only 16 “core cabinet members,” which includes the Vice President. However, US presidents are continuously elevating different positions to “cabinet level.”
As much as some people do not like it, the majority of the US population are still Christians of European background. Of that, the majority are Protestant, or at least have a Protestant background even if they are not religious.
Among Biden’s top 25 picks, Protestants of European decent received zero positions. The single largest segment of the US population received no positions in Biden’s 25 member cabinet.
The most over-represented group, by far, are Jewish people. They constitute only 2-3% of the US population, but they received 28% of the top 25 positions in the Biden administration. This is an extreme over-representation. While Haaretz and other Jewish publications celebrated this as a victory for the Jewish people, it is not at all reflective of the US population. That is a simple statement of fact.
Only six positions went to non-Jewish people of European ancestry. All six are Catholic.
Black Americans make up about 12.5% of the US population. Currently, Kamala Harris, who has about 25% sub-Saharan African ancestry, is calling herself black. When she was elected to the US Senate, she called herself “the first Indian US Senator. Kamala is 50% Indian (from India), and about 25% European. If we count Kamala as black, then blacks received 24% of the top 25 positions.
Latinos outnumber blacks in the United States. Biden recently stated this himself. Yet he gave them only three positions or 12%.
If we do not count Kamala as an Indian (from India), like she did during her Senate race, then there are two Asians. One with an Indian background and one with a Taiwanese background.
Biden did not fulfill his pledge. He did not even make a good faith effort to appoint a cabinet that reflects the demographics of the United States. Not even close. In fact, it would seem more likely that he intentionally went out of his way to snub the single largest population group in the country!
Finally, there is one American Indian.
Jewish: 28%
Catholic (White/European): 24%
Black: 24% (counting Kamala Harris, even though she has twice as much Asian ancestry as Sub-Saharan ancestry)
Latino: 12% (Two with Mexican ancestry and one Puerto Rican)
Asian: 8% (One Indian and one Taiwanese)
American Indian: 4%
White Protestants: 0%
Kamala Harris, Vice President – 50% Indian (from India), 25% African, 25% European
Antony Blinken, Secretary of State, Jewish
Janet Yellen, Secretary of the Treasury, Jewish
General Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense, Black
Merrick Garland, Attorney General, Jewish
Deb Haaland, Secretary of the Interior, American-Indian
Tom Vilsack, Secretary of Agriculture, White Catholic
Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce, White Catholic
Marty Walsh, Secretary of Labor, White Catholic
Xavier Becerra, Latino (Mexican ancestry)
Marcia Fudge, Secretary of HUD, Black
Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Transportation, White Catholic
Jennifer Granholm, Secretary of Energy, White Catholic
Miguel Cardona, Secretary of Education, Latino (Puerto Rican, may have substantial African ancestry)
Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, White Catholic
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, Jewish
Michael Regan, Administrator of the EPA, Black
Neera Tanden, Director of Management and Budget, Indian (from India)
Avril Haines, Director of the CIA, Jewish
Katherine Tai, US Trade Representative, Taiwanese
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, Ambassador to the UN, Black
Cecilia Rouse, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Black
Isabel Guzman, Administrator of the SBA, Latino (Mexican ancestry, but also claimes Jewish, German, and Chinese as well)
Eric Lander, Director of the Office of Science and Technology, Jewish
Ron Klain, Chief of Staff, Jewish
