Hispanic Caucus chair fires executive director; group’s staff down to zero

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) has no political staffers on the active payroll after Chairwoman Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.) fired Executive Director Jacky Usyk on Thursday.

The news of the firing was first reported by Dear White Staffers, an Instagram account run by anonymous Congressional staff that keeps tabs on alleged workplace abuses in the Capitol.

A half-dozen sources confirmed the news to The Hill; no CHC members returned requests for comment on the firing.

“Jacky is no longer with the CHC. We wish her well in her future endeavors. We do not comment on internal confidential personnel matters,” Barragán told The Hill.

A Democratic strategist with knowledge of the situation said, “This debacle unfolding at the CHC doesn’t bode well for the Caucus and for Congresswoman Barragán, who fired a well-liked staffer a month into the start of the new Congress.”

Usyk’s firing came just a day after the last of four political CHC staffers left the organization, and a month to the day after the CHC officially announced her hiring.

The other three political staff who worked at the CHC prior to Barragán’s appointment as chairwoman left between December and January.

The staff exodus comes as Barragán settles into her position at the head of the 42-member organization, a group with significant sway over policy choices in the broader Democratic Caucus.

It’s a worst-case scenario for Barragán, whose tenure in Congress has been marred with irregularly high staff turnover in her personal office.

While Barragán is well respected and well liked among her peers, she has gained a reputation among staffers that she is hard to work for.

According to Legistorm, a website that tracks Congressional staff, Barragán’s personal office had the third highest turnover rate of any House office from 2001 to 2021.

Still, in 2022, Barragán did not make the top 10 turnover Legistorm turnover list.

Usyk’s firing after less than a month on the job also comes as the CHC is searching for a new leader for its campaign arm, Bold PAC.

Bold PAC Chairman Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) last month announced he will step down from leading the organization at the end of the quarter to focus on his Arizona Senate campaign to take over Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s seat.

In 2022, Bold PAC had a record year, adding nine new CHC members and successfully defending all its incumbents, as well as spreading donations to friendly Democrats around the country.

“This will be a major detriment to her lagging fundraising apparatus and will likely even impact BOLD PAC’s capability to provide resources for its record membership,” the strategist said.

Updated Friday at 8 a.m.