Racial minority caucuses wrestle for spots in possible Clinton Cabinet

*I imagine this to be part race, part elbow-rooming, part debate. We’ll see, if Clinton wins, who gets the appointments. The complaint in the Latino community has always been about not having a seat at the inner-circle, policy making table. VL

By Scott Wong, Rafael Bernal and Mike Lillis, The Hill (6 minute read)

If she’s elected president next week, Hillary Clinton has pledged that 50 percent of her Cabinet will be female — but she’s under enormous pressure to ensure racial diversity as well.

The congressional Hispanic, Asian and black caucuses recently held separate meetings with Clinton’s transition team to put forward names of minority candidates for Cabinet and high-ranking administration posts, The Hill has learned. Former Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who is heading the transition team, attended some of those meetings.

Clinton’s Cabinet picks would be among her first decisions as the president-elect, setting the tone for a new administration that would likely owe a huge debt to the minority constituencies that are expected to overwhelmingly back her over Republican nominee Donald Trump on Election Day.

“Secretary Clinton’s view of the world is inclusion. It’s an indispensable part of her character and the Democratic Party now,” said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), who attended a meeting earlier this year between black congressional leaders and top Clinton aides.

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Here are some of the names the so-called Tri-Caucus — the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and Congressional Black Caucus — has floated to Clinton’s team, according to sources.

Congressional Hispanic Caucus

Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) leaders view the appointment of Salazar as a sign that Hispanics would be strongly represented in Clinton’s Cabinet. READ MORE