Incoming Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer needs to hire more black staffers says former chief of the New York State Democratic Party, Charlie King.
According to Politico, King, now a lobbyist for Mercury Public Affairs, plans to personally deliver a letter to Schumer’s D.C. office Thursday and stand outside of the office and demonstrate in a one man protest all day and every day Congress is in “to remind him that this has to be done,” he said.
“These guys have basically no black senior staff within the Senate. Twenty-five years ago, you had one black senior staff member, and now you have one, and maybe two,” King told Politico.
Schumer is presiding over a workplace “where the leadership of the staff is predominantly white,” King said.
Senate Democrats are under fire for not hiring more minorities in their offices and most have already hired staff for the new Congress. Schumer supported a measure last month that would establish a permanent office focused on hiring more minority staffers in the next Congress in order to “diversify” the staffs of Senate aides.
The New York Democrat planned to urge his fellow Democrats to use an NFL policy known as the “Rooney Rule.” This mandate, named after Pittsburgh Steelers owner Dan Rooney, requires professional football teams to interview minorities for any head coaching position or senior football jobs, The Washington Post reported.
“The more diverse the Senate is, the better it can serve the American people,” Schumer said in a statement announcing his plans. “Expanding the diversity initiative, following the Rooney rule, and dedicating ourselves to increasing diversity will be good for the Senate and for the country.”