In celebration of Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting the work that President Biden and Vice President Harris are doing every day to fight for women across America — from protecting reproductive freedom to securing economic equity and opportunity. At the same time, MAGA Republicans up and down the ballot are trying to turn back the clock and undermine women’s rights. 

DNC Director of Outreach Communications Tracy King released the following statement: 

“Trailblazer Shirley Chisholm once said, ‘At present, our country needs women’s idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else,’ and from day one of the Biden-Harris administration, they have delivered on making that a reality. President Biden and Vice President Harris are making good on their promise to ensure that women have a seat at every table in their administration. From his historic selection of Kamala Harris to serve as vice president to his nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve on the highest court in the land and his appointment of a record number of women leaders across the federal government, President Biden has been a champion for bringing the ideas, brilliance, and perspectives of women to the table throughout his presidency and career. That record stands in sharp contrast to Donald Trump, who regularly undermines women and threatens their rights and autonomy — and he’s going to see our power firsthand at the ballot box this November.”

President Biden chose the first Black and the first Asian American woman to serve as vice president of the United States. 

CBS News: “Kamala Harris to make history as the first Black woman vice president” 

“Her next position reads as a litany of firsts: she will be the first woman vice president, the first Black vice president, the first Asian American vice president and the first Democratic vice president from the West Coast. 

“Harris’ ascension to the second-highest elected office of the land comes 100 years after the 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote, and 55 years after the Voting Rights Act codified voting protections for Black Americans. It is also just over 52 years since Shirley Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to Congress on November 5, 1968. Only two Black women — including Harris — have ever been elected to the U.S. Senate, and no Black woman has ever served as a state governor.”

“In many ways, Harris’ election as vice president represents the achievement of the American dream, as she is the daughter of a mother who emigrated from India and a Jamaican immigrant father. She attended Howard University, a prominent historically Black university, and is a proud member of the all-Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.”

The 19th News: “Kamala Harris applauds Biden’s ‘audacity to choose a Black woman to be his running mate’”

President Biden nominated the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

The 19th News: “President Joe Biden entered the White House two years ago this month, bringing with him a promise to help diversify the nation’s highest court by nominating a Black woman.

“He fulfilled that commitment in June when Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson became the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court. While Jackson’s historic confirmation was the most visible sign of systemic change in the judiciary, the president has prioritized diversity throughout the federal court system. Biden’s judicial appointees are the most diverse of any U.S. president to date in terms of race, gender and professional background.”

President Biden delivered on his promise to diversify the federal judiciary, appointing a record number of female judges and judges of color.

HuffPost: “Joe Biden Has Confirmed 150 Federal Judges. 100 Of Them Are Women.” 

The 19th News: “Two years in, Biden has prioritized nominating women of color as judges”

Pew Research Center: “Most of Biden’s judge appointees are women, racial or ethnic minorities”

“Nearly two-thirds of the federal judges President Joe Biden has appointed so far are women, and the same share are members of racial or ethnic minority groups, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of statistics from the Federal Judicial Center.”

The Hill: “Of these, record numbers are women, people of color, and people who are historic ‘firsts’ or ‘onlies’: The first individuals from an underrepresented community to serve on their particular bench. Right now, more than one-third of all Black women federal judges in U.S. history have been nominated by Biden.  At the appellate court level, President Biden has named more Black women to the circuit courts (13) than all of his predecessors combined (eight).”

AsAmNews: “So far, the U.S. Senate has confirmed a record 29 Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander judges nominated by the President. 20 of those nominees have been women. More AANHPI women have been confirmed under Biden than the three previous administrations combined.”

The Biden-Harris administration has confirmed a record number of female Cabinet secretaries.

ABC News: “Biden Cabinet picks feature record number of women and women of color” 

“Twelve of Biden’s nominations for Cabinet and Cabinet-level positions are women, including eight women of color, and if they’re all confirmed it would shatter former President Bill Clinton’s record of nine women serving concurrently, which happened during his second term.”

NPR: “Deb Haaland, a member of New Mexico’s Laguna Pueblo, has become the first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history.”

CNBC: “Meet the 5 women appointed to President-elect Joe Biden’s White House senior staff”

“On Tuesday, Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris tweeted out who will be part of their senior White House staff. Showing a diverse group of nine individuals, including four men and five women, Biden and Harris reminded the public again of their ‘commitment to building an administration that looks like America.’”

President Biden made history by appointing the first-ever Senate-confirmed openly trans woman to serve as an official in the federal government.

NPR: “Rachel Levine Makes History As 1st Openly Trans Federal Official Confirmed By Senate” 

“The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm Dr. Rachel Levine as assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services.”

“In a statement in January about the nomination, President Biden said Levine ‘will bring the steady leadership and essential expertise we need to get people through this pandemic — no matter their ZIP code, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability — and meet the public health needs of our country in this critical moment and beyond.”

 Donald Trump’s Cabinet was older, whiter, and richer than most cabinets.

New York Times: “Trump’s Cabinet So Far Is More White and Male Than Any First Cabinet Since Reagan’s”

“If Mr. Trump’s remaining nominees are confirmed, women and nonwhites will hold six of 24 cabinet or cabinet-level positions.”

“Those six members will also be in some of the lowest-ranking positions. None of them are in the so-called inner cabinet, the four positions in place since George Washington’s presidency: the attorney general and the secretaries of state, Treasury and defense (formerly called the secretary of war).”

Politico:  “Trump’s Cabinet by the numbers: White, wealthy and light on women”

“President Donald Trump promised a break with precedent while in the Oval Office, and in picking his Cabinet, he delivered.

“No Hispanics. A secretary of State with no government experience. Two former 

Generals. A host of high-powered business executives beginning their government careers at the top. And a sharp break in a decades-long trend of increasing Cabinet diversity.”

BBC News: “All-male White House health bill photo sparks anger”

“There is a familiarity about this photo, and it could have been taken in many boardrooms around the world – men gathered around a table making plans and cutting deals.

“But the lack of women here, among a group of conservative Republicans discussing their healthcare bill with the vice-president, struck a particular nerve.”

Trump’s judicial appointments were overwhelmingly white men – and not a single one of his appellate judges was Black. 

The Guardian: “The numbers tell a clear story. There are a total of 816 active federal judges comprising the supreme court, the 13 appellate courts, and 91 district courts. In just one term Trump was able to appoint 28% of those judges due to past and continuing vacancies. Most importantly, he appointed 33% of America’s nine supreme court justices and 30% of the appellate judges. The vast majority of his appointments were white males – not one of his 54 appellate judges is Black.” 

The 19th: “Of the judges appointed by Biden in the past two years, 75 percent are women, 47 percent are women of color and 67 percent are people of color. This stands in stark contrast to his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, who two years into his presidency had appointed 85 judges, 92 percent of whom were White, 23 percent were women and 2 percent were women of color, according to analysis by The 19th. Biden has also prioritized nominating lawyers from professional backgrounds that are underrepresented in the federal judiciary.”

Put simply, you can learn a lot about Trump’s opinions on women not only from his actions as president but from his own words. 

Trump: “Women, you have to treat them like shit.”