The Congressional Hispanic Caucus is in crisis

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, or what’s left of it, is in shambles. The Democratic group’s staff has dwindled down to nothing, following months of turmoil under its newly elected chair, Representative Nanette Barragán, who took over in December. In the weeks since, the group’s staff have all either left voluntarily or been fired.

Most recently, Barragán fired the group’s lone survivor, executive director Jacky Usyk — news that was first publicized by the anonymous Instagram account, Dear White Staffers, which has been prolifically documenting the CHC turmoil.

While Barragán has only been in Congress for six years, Legistorm data show that she has the third highest turnover rate of congressional staff in the past twenty years. Barragán confirmed that Usyk was ousted only two months after she had been tapped to helm the organization.

In what is becoming a recurring pattern, Dear White Staffers, which is maintained by anonymous Hill staff, is surfacing more news about Democrats on Capitol Hill than the entire Capitol Hill press corps.

The intra-CHC drama is the latest story that Dear White Staffers dragged major media outlets into reporting. At this point, if you want to know what’s going on in the Democratic Party, you’re being better served by DWS than by CNN, ABC or CBS. The Instagram account is the main reason that Representative Katie Porter’s staff abuse — which reporters openly acknowledge was an open secret that they would rather cover up than cover — is now common knowledge.

Like all reporters, Dear White Staffers has its biases — which the account is now using to urge a total workers’ boycott of the CHC. “You probably shouldn’t apply to any openings at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus or Nanette barragans office!” the group warned on its increasingly news-making Instagram Stories. “Just a hunch. I hope tri-caucus orgs think twice about sharing those listings with their membership. Mad Sus!”

The problems within the CHC risk hampering the Democrats’ 2024 electoral odds as well. The group’s PAC, which endorsed over thirty non-Hispanic Democrats in the 2022 midterms, is also at a crossroads; the turmoil its official arm is enmeshed in threatens its ability to navigate the 2024 elections effectively. BOLD PAC’s most recent chair, Representative Ruben Gallego, stepped aside to focus on his challenge to Senator Kyrsten Sinema.

A Democratic strategist complained to the Hill that this turmoil “will be a major detriment to [Barragán’s] lagging fundraising apparatus and will likely even impact BOLD PAC’s capability to provide resources for its record membership.” It’s quite possible that Barragán has even lost the trust of the members of Congress who make up the CHC, who considered ousting her before deciding to keep her around.

This decision played poorly with Dear White Staffers and its followers. When sharing the news that Barragán would hang on, the account wrote “UGHHHHHHHHHH” with a skull emoji attached. It asked its readers if this was good or bad news; at last count, “bad” was leading “good” by a whopping 96-4 margin. “Nothing will get done for our community with her in charge,” one user wrote.

The Democrats’ disunity with CHC is the latest instance of what their Republican counterparts are highlighting as leadership from their new squad that’s not ready for prime time. That’s a sentiment shared by Dear White Staffers’ largely progressive following. One wrote that “Aguilar [Representative Pete Aguilar, the number three House Democrat] owns whatever happens next,” adding that “a reporter should ask him at his next press conference if he supports the unionization of Nanette’s staff and/or chc staff.” The commenter fumed about “how does Aguilar think it looks to be the highest ranking Latino in Congress and essentially ok the cycle of abuse of staff happening under Barragan.”

While the next steps for the CHC and BOLD PAC are unclear, one thing is becoming increasingly apparent: if you want to find out what the embattled group’s plans are, you might as well cancel your Washington Post subscription and give DWS a follow instead.