House Democrats are calling for a diversity-driven shakeup in the party's campaign arm

(Image credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images)

published 29 July 2019

The head of the Democratic party's main campaign wing is facing internal backlash, Politico reports.

The turmoil was first reported by Politico last week, but Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.) is reportedly making a sudden return to Washington on Monday to address her critics, who are are calling for "immediate restructuring" and systematic changes to the committee over what they say is a lack of diversity, especially among leadership positions.

In what Politico describes as the most dramatic move so far, Texas Reps. Vicente Gonzalez and Filemon Vela called for Bustos to fire her top aide, DCCC Executive Director Allison Jaslow and replace her with "a qualified person of color, of which there are many," at once. In their statement, Vela and Gonzalez also criticized the Congressional Hispanic Congress for its lack of action regarding the situation, describing its silence as "deafening."

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Bustos has reportedly agreed to participate in diversity and inclusion training for DCCC employees and "plans to approve changes" to the committee's structure. However, there is so far no indication that she is planning to fire Jaslow, who reportedly tearfully assumed blame for the lack of diversity in the DCCC during an emergency all-staff meeting after Politico's story broke on Friday. Read more at Politico.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.

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