Biden Progress Report

Biden Signing documents on Oval desk

We applaud the first year of the Biden-Harris administration. While it is the most diverse administration in history, it is not yet representative of the American people. Below is a Progress Report of the Policies, Personnel, Scorecards, Recommendations, and Benchmarks. (Last Updated: January 19, 2022)

Firsts
Policies & Strategies
Scorecard
Gaps
deadlines

Firsts

Kamala Harris

First woman and First Person of Color to serve as Vice President

Xavier Becerra

First Latino to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services

Pete Buttigieg

First openly gay Cabinet Secretary to serve as Secretary of Transportation

Christine Wormuth

First female to serve as Secretary of the Army

Kathleen Hicks

First female to serve as Deputy Secretary of Defense

Karine Jean-Pierre

First openly lesbian person to serve as the vice-presidential chief of staff

Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón

First woman to serve as United States Ambassador to Spain

Lynne Tracy

First woman to serve as United States Ambassador to Russia

Janet Yellen

First woman to serve as Secretary of the Treasury

Deb Haaland

First Native American to serve as Secretary of the Interior and first Native American Cabinet Secretary

Alejandro Mayorkas

First Latino as Secretary of Homeland Security

Wally Adeyamo

First African American to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury

Rachel Levine

First first openly transgender federal official to be confirmed by the US Senate to serve as Assistant Secretary for Health

Lisa Cook

First African American to serve as a Member of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve System

First all-female Communications Team

Lloyd Austin

First African American to serve as Secretary of Defense

Katherine Tai

First Asian American and First Woman of Color to serve as US Trade Representative

Cecilia Rouse

First African American Woman to serve as Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers

Wendy Sherman

First female to serve as Deputy Secretary of State

Shawn Skelly

First transgender Assistant Secretary for Readiness, Department of Defense

Amy Gutmann

First woman to serve as United States Ambassador to Germany

Shalanda Young

First woman of color to serve as Director of the Office of Management and Budget

Ketanji Brown Jackson Tracy

First Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court

( “*” Asterisk indicates political appointees that are not yet Senate-Confirmed.)

Policies & Strategies

EXECUTIVE ORDER #13985
Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government

EXECUTIVE ORDER #13988
Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation

EXECUTIVE ORDER #14004
Enabling All Qualified Americans to Serve Their Country in Uniform

EXECUTIVE ORDER #14035
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce

EXECUTIVE ORDER #14091
Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government

NATIONAL SECURITY MEMORANDUM #3
Memorandum on Revitalizing America’s Foreign Policy and National Security Workforce, Institutions, and Partnerships

OPM MEMORANDUM #01052022
Considerations for Establishing Chief Diversity Officers EO 14035

White House Government-wide Strategic Plan to Advance DEIA in the Federal Workforce (Inclusive America Response)

Department/Agency Equity Plan Snapshots

OMB Study to Identify Methods to Assess Equity: Report to the President

National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality

White House briefings will include an American Sign Language interpreter

WhiteHouse.gov has an Accessibility Policy

White House Convening on Equity

Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity (TACRE)

Chief Diversity Officers Executive Council

Releases First-Ever Federal Evidence Agenda on LGBTQI+ Equity

DEI Scorecard

We believe in holding government accountable for translating these efforts into systemic changes. To do so, we developed a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Scorecard and have begun to assess personnel demographics and enacted policies by each department and agencies.

Department/Agency/OfficeDEIA StrategyInclusion Rule for Hiring and PromotingWorkforce Diversity MetricsRetention MetricsD&I Strategic PlanChief Diversity OfficerEase of Access to Diversity Data
Department of Defense❌❌✔️✔️✔️✔️❌
Department of Justice❌❌❌❌✔️❌❌
Department of Transportation❌❌✔️✔️❌❌❌
Department of Treasury❌❌✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
Department of State❌❌✔️✔️✔️✔️✔️
Department of Homeland Security❌❌
✔️

✔️
✔️✔️✔️
Department of Health and Human Services❌ ❌ ✔️ ❌ ❌ ✔️ ✔️
Department of Education❌ ❌ ✔️ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Department of Commerce❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Department of Agriculture❌ ❌ ✔️ ❌ ✔️ ✔️ ❌
Department of the Interior❌ ❌ ✔️ ❌ ✔️ ✔️ ❌
Central Intelligence Agency❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Department of Veterans Affairs❌ ❌ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Department of Labor❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
Department of Energy❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✔️ ✔️ ❌
Department of Housing and Urban Development❌ ❌ ✔️ ❌ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Small Business Administration❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Office of the Director of National Intelligence❌ ❌ ✔️ ❌ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Environmental Protection Agency❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌ ❌
White House – Executive Office of the President❌❌❌❌❌✔️❌

Gaps

Cabinet Members

No Asian American serving as a Cabinet Secretary; the first time in two decades.

People with Disabilities
0% representation (25% parity)

Deputy Secretaries

Latina/o/x/ Hispanic
3.8% representation (18.5% parity)

Native American / American Indian
0% representation (1.3% parity)

Middle Eastern / North African
0% representation (3% parity)

People with Disabilities
0% representation (25% parity)

Chiefs of Staff

Latina/o/x/ Hispanic
3.8% representation (18.5% parity)

Black/African American
8.7% representation (13.4% parity)

Native American / American Indian
0% representation (1.3% parity)

Middle Eastern / North African
0% representation (3% parity)

Women of color
4.3% representation (20% parity)

People with Disabilities
0% representation (25% parity)

Room for Improvement

Regularly disclose and disaggregate demographic data, as appropriate.

Data about Gender Identity, Race/Ethnicity, and Sexual Orientation have been reported but nothing on Disability or Religion. Some categories need be disaggregated further (i.e. Middle Eastern Americans, Asian Americans, etc.) It is hard to know which segments of society are being left out without the data being made public and regularly updated.

Aim for parity at every level

…especially for underrepresented communities. Current gaps include:

  • People with Disabilities at every level
  • Latinas on the National Security Council at the Principal, Deputy, and Senior Director level
  • Latina/os/x / Hispanics at every level
  • Native Americans at every level other than Cabinet Secretary
  • Middle Eastern / North African people at every level
  • Transgender people at every level

Ensure systemic changes

Ensure systemic changes are made to make government more inclusive (see three draft Executive Orders: www.InclusiveAmerica.org/eo), especially:

  • Ensure Intelligence Community accommodates People with Disabilities
  • Develop an Inclusion Rule
  • Elevate the position of Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer to the level of Assistant to the President

Deadlines

 Date / DeadlineDays since(-) / from(+) todayPercentage until Completion
Joe Biden became PresidentJanuary 20, 2021-795
President Biden signed Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities (EO #13985)January 20, 2021-795
Director of OMB shall deliver a report to the President identifying methods to assess equity (EO #13985)July 20, 2021-614163%
Each Secretary/Administrator must submit an Equity Assessment to the Director of the Domestic Policy Council (EO #13985)August 8, 2021-595148%
Each Secretary/Administrator must submit an Equity Plan (EO #13985)January 20, 2022-43081%
President Biden signed Memorandum on Advancing the Human Rights of LGBTQI Persons Around the World (86 FR 11843)February 4, 2021-780
All agencies engaged abroad shall rescind any directives, orders, regulations, policies, or guidance inconsistent with this memorandum (86 FR 11843)May 15, 2021-680
President Biden signed Memorandum on Revitalizing America’s Foreign Policy and National Security Workforce (86 FR 828X)February 4, 2021-780
Interagency Working Group on the National Security Workforce shall provide a report to the President (86 FR 828X)August 3, 2021-600156%
Next Congressional electionNovember 8, 2022-13845%
Next Presidential electionNovember 5, 2024+58921%