Prometheus 6

WASHINGTON (AP) - Leading black Democrats in Congress and the national party are protesting the layoffs of 10 minority staffers at the party's headquarters.

The Democratic National Committee notified some committee members and lawmakers Wednesday that they were cutting the positions to save money and streamline operations in preparation for next year's presidential election.

"I'm just outraged," said Donna Brazile, who served as Al Gore's campaign manager in the last presidential election and is also the chairwoman of the DNC's Voting Rights Institute. "They started reading me the names and I said 'Oh, oh - they're all black.' I went through the roof."

Brazile said the DNC is making the cuts as part of its goal to raise $10 million to $15 million to support the party's presidential nominee.

She proposed that the party cut payroll instead of laying off competent staffers.

DNC communications strategist Jim Mulhall said the committee has hired at least nine new minority staffers in the past month. The committee has more than 100 employees but did not have a count of the number of minority staffers Wednesday night.