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Biden administration touts most diverse White House staff in history

The administration sent a personnel report to Congress on Friday detailing its staffing.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on June 7, 2023.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room on June 7.Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP - Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Biden White House employs the most diverse staff in U.S. history, according to a government report filed with Congress on Friday and first obtained by NBC News, with nearly 50% of current appointees identifying as racially or ethnically diverse.

The White House has “taken significant steps” to ensure it represents the breadth of the population, the report said, delivering on a campaign promise from President Joe Biden.

The current White House staff is predominantly female, with women making up approximately 59% of staff. That surpasses the 50.5% share of the national population who are women, per the U.S. Census Bureau, and the 47.2% of the labor force who are women, as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“The president’s directive to us is crystal clear: Make sure the Biden-Harris Administration reflects America,” White House chief of staff Jeff Zients told NBC News in a statement. “We have made huge strides to do just that and we will continue to build on this progress.”

The latest figures in the personnel report show that more staffers identify as diverse, with 49% this year, compared to 44% in 2022, per the administration’s own analysis.

Of the White House’s senior staff, approximately 48% are female, down from 56% last summer, and 34% are from racially or ethnically diverse communities, versus 38% a year ago.

Since 1995, every White House has been required to send a report to Congress that details the title and salary of every official employee by July 1, before being posted publicly.