Let’s take a quick look at Republican support for President Biden’s nominees for cabinet-level positions. Here’s how much support nominees have garnered from GOP Senators:
White male nominees (5): 33 vote average
White female nominees (4): 29.5 vote average
Black nominees (5): 29.6 average
Hispanic nominees (4): 13.3 average
Republican Senators don’t seem to like Biden’s Hispanic nominees very much. It’s a small sample of course, but striking. Hispanic men, in particular, have received very little support from Republican Senators with Xavier Becerra receiving one GOP vote for Health and Human Services secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas receiving 6 for DHS secretary and Miguel Cardona receiving 14 for Education secretary. For other ethnicities, results range from zero GOP support for Neera Tanden (OMB nominee), 4 votes for Debra Haaland (Interior) to unanimous support for Katherine Tai (US Trade Rep.).
Do you think the low support for Hispanic nominees is particular to the nominees or just anti-Hispanic racism? Are GOP Senators scared to go on record supporting Hispanic nominees because of electoral consequences in primaries?