Hispanic leaders say Biden, Congress must commit further to strengthening diversity

Hispanic leaders are pushing the Biden administration to go further in its efforts to diversify the top levels of government, in hopes of seeing more Hispanic appointees in public offices.

Ramiro Cavazos, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said the White House needs to do more to earn the Hispanic votes that he said are often taken for granted in election years by both major political parties.

"I believe very strongly that they could do more to support the Latino community," Mr. Cavazos said. "They have four Cabinet-level appointees that are Latinos. That's great, but really the higher and mid-level presidential appointments, they're at about 10%. Our goal would be 20% to reflect the population of our nation."

Mr. Cavazos joined members of the Hispanic Congressional Caucus outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday to show their support for the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the high court.

Members voiced the need to appoint Ms. Jackson, who would send a message about an increasingly changing society when it comes to having people of color at the highest level of government and politics.

"This nomination is not lost on me," said Rep. Veronica Escobar, Texas Democrat. "Our people have been locked out of the system at every turn, whether it be elected office, whether it be in the halls of power, whether it be in board rooms, whether it be on the Supreme Court of the United States of America, but this is why elections matter."

In his 2020 campaign, President Biden promised to nominate a Black woman to the Supreme Court if an opening came up.

Rep. Raul Ruiz, who chairs the CHC, said his caucus also supports diversity expansions in congressional leadership, which is expected to see a shake-up if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi steps down this year.

"Speaker Pelosi has been an exceptional speaker of the House and being the first woman speaker really made history," Mr. Ruiz said. "She cares about diversity as our strength and we also have [Whip James Clyburn], so we want to make sure that we move forward, leadership also reflects the diversity of the population. CHC will be supporting diversity in leadership."

Mr. Cavazos, whose organization is bipartisan, added that political leaders must strengthen their show of support of Hispanic voters if they want to capture them in November, touching on the growing number of Hispanics moving toward the Republican Party.

"It's a big surprise that a lot of Latinos are now voting Republican, but I think it makes our population more respected and nimble and not taken for granted," Mr. Cavazos said.

Mr. Ruiz said last week that Democrats must step up outreach efforts for Hispanic voters to keep their support in the midterms.

"The biggest lesson that we've been trying to shout from the rooftops is not to take the Hispanic community for granted," Mr. Ruiz said at the Democratic retreat in Philadelphia.

The shift of Hispanic voters away from the Democratic Party comes as the Republican National Committee makes strides to invest and organize in communities of color, including Hispanics in key swing states.

Exit polling by The New York Times showed former President Donald Trump received a bump in his support among Hispanics, despite losing the 2020 race as a whole.

Mr. Trump got one-in-three Hispanic voters nationwide, beating his 2016 performance.