Cabinet-level turnover chart test

Turnover in the president’s cabinet

The chart and table below are dedicated to tracking turnover in the Cabinet. They will also be updated as additional turnover occurs. Unlike the trackers above dedicated to the president’s “A Team,” these resources look at every departure from the president’s cabinet, even if multiple people have occupied that position.

[simplechart id=”575878″]

Notice of updated methodology

The current table of Cabinet-level turnover has been updated from a previous version, accessible here for reference, that was based on a different methodology; this change was made on May 21, 2019. This newer table provides data going back to President Reagan (1981) and adheres to a strict definition of Cabinet by only including the heads of the executive departments. While presidents often promote a position like EPA administrator to Cabinet-level status, these appointments are ad hoc, can be short-lived, and make it difficult to compare over time. Given the variability, we only include Senate-confirmed Cabinet members who are in the presidential line of succession, since this allows for greater consistency and standardization.

Additionally, since Reagan’s presidency, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Homeland Security have been added to the list (increasing from 13 to 15 positions). Year of departure is determined by the date a Cabinet member announced they were resigning, regardless of their final end date.

Summary and analysis of Cabinet departures in the Trump administration

Set out below is a list of departures from the president’s Cabinet since the beginning of the Trump administration.

Year	Position	Name	Prior Job	Nature of Departure	Date of Departure Announcement	Where to?	Successor
1	Secretary of Homeland Security	John F. Kelly	U.S. Marine Corps	Promoted	7/28/2017	White House Chief of Staff	Kirstjen Nielsen
1	Secretary of Health and Human Services	Tom Price	Member of the House	RUP	9/29/2017	Jackson Healthcare	Alex Azar

2	Secretary of State	Rex Tillerson	Exxon	RUP	3/13/2018	Unknown	Mike Pompeo
2	Secretary of Veterans Affairs	David Shulkin	U.S. Government (VA)	RUP	3/28/2018	Unknown	Robert Wilkie
2	Attorney General	Jeff Sessions	U.S. Senator	RUP	11/7/2018	Unknown	William Barr
2	Secretary of Defense	Jim Mattis	Retired	Protest Resignation (PR)	12/20/2018	Unknown	Patrick Shanahan (Acting)
2	Secretary of Interior	Ryan Zinke	Member of the House	RUP	12/15/2018	Artillery One	David Bernhardt

3	Secretary of Homeland Security	Kirstjen Nielsen	Deputy Chief of Staff	RUP	4/7/2019	Unclear	Kevin McAleenan (acting)
Sources: Agency websites, presidential library websites, and various news sources. Note: Year of departure corresponds to date of departure announcement. Thanks to Elaine Kamarck and Nick Zeppos, who contributed to the initial data collection for this section.

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