Biden’s top 67 appointees wildly contradict the ethnic/racial/religious diversity of the United States

US President Joe Biden pledged that his administration would reflect the demographic makeup of America. We previously reported last January that he failed miserably to fill his 25 cabinet-level positions with people who reflect the United States’ demographic makeup.

Since our original report, Biden replaced one of the cabinet-level appointees. Neera Tanden, who is from India, has been replaced with Shalanda Young, who is Black. Among Biden’s top tier of appointees, people with a European/Christian background are wildly underrepresented, especially those with a European/Protestant background. No White Protestant holds a single position, even though they are the largest group of Americans. Jewish people are wildly overrepresented. Their percentage of the core cabinet positions is over nine times their percentage of the US population. Blacks recieved a percentage of seats that is double their percentage of the US population. Latinos were given less than half as many seats as Blacks, even though they outnumber Blacks in the general population.

Besides the 25 cabinet-level spots, another 42 people have either been confirmed or are presently in the confirmation process. These people represent most of the 2nd tier of appointees, as well as some lesser positions.

When we look at all 67 spots, we find that two groups have vast overrepresentation. Jewish or Central Asians (India & Pakistan) are overrepresented at 7 to 8 times their actual percentage of the population. Blacks are also greatly overrepresented.

Whites and Latinos are significantly underrepresented. Both groups have received roughly half the number of positions that they should have been given for Biden to fulfill his promise of creating an administration that reflects the United States’ demographic makeup.

There are some nuances. Two of the Black appointees are extremely light-skinned. You might not even think they were Black if you saw them from across the street. However, they self-identify as Black/African-American rather than identifying as mix-raced. Just like Kamala Harris self-identifies as “Black” even though she only has 25% African Ancestry. There is also a woman who calls herself an American Indian and claims membership in the Chickasaw Tribe. If she has any American Indian ancestry, it is very little. However, this woman has made a career out of being an American Indian advocate.

Biden only gave two of these forty-two second and third-tier spots to Latinos. One is from Cuba, and one from Ecuador. They may very well both be entire of European ancestry, and the one from Ecuador might not even have any Spanish ancestry. We only listed him as Latino because the media constantly puts Ecuador next to his name. Among these 42 second and third-tier appointees, Biden appointed 2.5 times as many people from India as he did Latinos. He appointed the same number of Pakistanis as his did Latinos.

Biden most likely continued his trend of favoring those with a Catholic background over those with a Protestant background. However, unlike the 25 cabinet-level nominees, less is published about these nominees. Of the 15 people that we believe to have a European/Christian background, we know that three identify as Catholic and one as Baptist. Several have Irish or Italian surnames, so they probably have a Catholic background. One has a Scandinavian surname that is mainly from Minnesota, so he probably has a Lutheran background.

The people we list as Jewish are all people identified as such in Jewish publications.

Second & Third tier positions (note that the graph above is for all 67):

White: 15 (3 Catholic, 1 Baptist, 12 unknown) 35.7%
East Asian: 2 4.8%
Indian (India): 5 12%
Pakistani: 2 4.8%
Jewish: 8 19%
Latino: 2 4.8%
Black: 7 16.7%
American-Indian: 1 2.4%

Total: 42

Brian P. McKeon, Deputy secretary for management and resources, White Catholic

Kathleen Hicks, Deputy Secretary of Defense, White

David Turk, Deputy Secretary of Energy, Latino (Born in Ecuador)

Don Graves, Deputy Secretary for the Department of Commerce, Black (very light-skinned mixed race)

Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health, Jewish (also transsexual)

Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General, Indian (from India)

William J. Burns, CIA Director, White

Wendy R. Sherman, Deputy Secretary of the Department of State, Jewish

Lisa Monaco, Deputy Attorney General, White

Andrea Palm, Deputy Secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, White

Polly Trottenberg, Deputy Secretary for the Department of Transportation, Jewish

Vanita Gupta, Associate attorney general, Indian (from India)

Bonnie Jenkins, Undersecretary for arms control and international security affairs, Black

Cindy Marten, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Education, Jewish

Uzra Zeya, Undersecretary for civilian security, democracy, and human rights, Indian (India)

Julie Su, Deputy Secretary for the Department of Labor, Asian (Chinese)

Victoria Nuland, Undersecretary for political affairs, Jewish

Colin Kahl, Undersecretary for policy for the Department of Defense, Jewish

Wally Adeyemo, Deputy Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, Black

Jewel H. Bronaugh, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Black (very light-skinned mixed race)

Brenda Mallory, Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality, Black

Eric Lander, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Jewish

Leslie Kiernan, General counsel for the Department of Commerce, White

Jason Miller, Deputy Director for management, Office of Management and Budget, White

Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Black

Todd Kim, Assistant attorney general for the environment and natural resources division, East Asian

Deanne Criswell, Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, White Catholic

Kristen Clarke, Assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, Black

James Kvaal, Undersecretary of the Department of Education, White

Jose W. Fernandez, Undersecretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment, Latino (Cuban)

Janie Simms Hipp, General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture, American-Indian (looks extremely White)

Janet McCabe, Deputy Administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, White

Samantha Power, Administrator for the US Agency for International Development, White

Richard Sauber, General Counsel for the Department of Veterans Affairs, White

Christopher Fonzone, General Counsel for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, White

Jennifer Abruzzo, General Counsel for National Labor Relations, White Catholic

Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Security and Exchange Commission, Jewish

Lina Khan, Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission, Pakistani

Dilawar Syed, Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Association, Pakistani

Bill Nelson, Administrator for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, White Baptist

 

Kiran Arjandas Ahuja, Director of the Office of Personnel Management, Indian (India)

Rohit Chopra, Director of the Consumer Protection Bureau, Indian (India)