Justice Sonia Sotomayor is the most prominent Hispanic nominee of President Barack Obama, but she's far from the only one. The Arizona Republic has tallied up the number of Hispanic appointees, and it reports that Obama has named more Hispanics to high office than any other president during his first year. And Obama still has four months left in his first year and lots of positions to fill.
Click here for the newspaper’s story.
According to the Republic, Obama has successfully appointed 43 officials who are Hispanic — meaning that he nominated them and the Senate confirmed them. In their first years in office, President George W. Bush appointed 34 and President Bill Clinton appointed 30.
Obama’s Hispanic appointments represent 14 percent of the 304 nominees the Senate has confirmed, while Hispanics make up 15 percent of the U.S. population and 8 percent of the federal workforce, the Republic reports.
At least one Hispanic nominee for a top legal post is still awaiting confirmation: Thomas Perez, for assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Republicans held up his nomination — and those of other Justice Department nominees — while the Senate was considering Sotomayor’s nomination this summer. The Senate returns to Washington Sept. 8, and it could vote on Perez’s nomination at any time.
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