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Tracking turnover in the Biden administration

January 20, 2022

Updated March 19, 2024

  • President Biden’s “A-Team” turnover is 71%.
  • President Biden’s Cabinet turnover is 13%.
US President Joe Biden, with Cabinet members, signs an executive order on delivering the Government services and experience the American people expect and deserve during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 13 December 2021.No Use Germany.
US President Joe Biden, with Cabinet members, signs an executive order on delivering the Government services and experience the American people expect and deserve during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 13 December 2021.No Use Germany.
  • 1 min read
Editor's note:

For the latest analysis of turnover in the Biden administration’s, visit “Staff turnover in year three of the Biden administration.”

The rate of turnover among senior-level executive branch staff can have a serious impact on the day-to-day performance of the White House—and shape the very nature of a presidency. As Brookings did for Donald Trump, the Institution is now monitoring staffing changes among the upper echelons of President Biden’s administration.

Below, we offer two sets of resources to help measure and contextualize this turnover. The first set of resources, immediately below, tracks turnover among senior-ranking advisers in the executive office of the president (which does not include Cabinet secretaries); the second set of resources tracks turnover in the Cabinet.

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A-Team Turnover

Turnover on President Biden's "A-Team"

President Biden’s “A-Team” turnover is 71% as of February 15, 2024.

The following chart and table reflect turnover among the most influential positions within the executive office of the president. This data is compiled and tracked by Brookings nonresident senior fellow Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, who refers to this group of advisers as the president’s “A-Team.” The list of positions that make up the “A-Team” is based on National Journal “Decision Makers” editions, and Tenpas’s methodology is described in detail in a related piece published in January 2022. The chart and table below will be updated as additional members of the “A-Team” depart their positions. It is important to note the following:

  • Because the “A-Team” is made up of members of the executive office of the president, it does not include Cabinet secretaries. Information on the Cabinet is available below.
  • Each position on the “A-Team” is only counted once. If multiple people hold and depart from the same position, only the initial departure is tracked/affects the turnover rate.
  • The count for turnover among Joe Biden’s administration is ongoing.
Year Name Nature of departure Date of departure* Prior job Where to? Successor
1 Deputy Press Secretary; Special Assistant to the President TJ Ducklo Resigned under pressure 2/13/21 NBC News Risa Heller Communications Chris Meagher
1 Chief Strategist; Senior Advisor to the President Anita Dunn Resigned 8/14/21 SKDK SKDK None (temporary position)
1 White House Staff Secretary; Deputy Assistant to the President Jessica Hertz Resigned 10/22/21 Facebook Shopify Neera Tanden
1 Director, White House Office of Presidential Personnel; Assistant to the President Cathy Russell Resigned 12/10/21* Unknown UNICEF Gautam Raghavan
1 Chief of Staff to the First Lady; Assistant to the President Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon Promoted 12/18/21 Winston and Strawn LLP Ambassador to Spain Unknown
2 Senior Director for Legislative Affairs, NSC Rebecca Brocato Resigned 1/2/2022 Co-Founder and Director of Strategy and Government Affairs at National Security Action Development Finance Corporation Casey Redmon
2 Deputy Counsel to the President; Legal Advisor to the National Security Council Jonathan Cedarbaum Resigned 1/31/22 WilmerHale GW Law School Jake Phillips
2 Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy Eric Lander Resigned under pressure 2/18/22 The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Broad Institute Dr. Arati Prabhakar
2 Deputy Director, Office of Management and Budget Shalanda Young Promoted 3/17/22 House Committee on Appropriations Director, Office of Management and Budget Nani Coloretti
2 National Security Advisor to the Vice President Nancy McEldowney Resigned 3/20/22 Biden-Harris transition team Georgetown University Philip Gordon
2 Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response; Counselor to the President Jeff Zients Resigned 4/5/22 Cranemere Group White House Chief of Staff Ashish K. Jha
2 Chief of Staff to the Vice President Tina Flournoy Resigned 4/22/22 Chief of Staff for former President Bill Clinton President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition Lorraine Voles
2 Deputy Director of Communications; Special Assistant to the President Pili Tobar Resigned 5/2/22 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Fireside Campaigns Herbie Ziskend
2 Press Secretary; Assistant to the President Jen Psaki Resigned 5/13/22 Biden-Harris transition team MSNBC Karin Jean-Pierre
2 Director, White House Office of Public Engagement; Assistant and Special Advisor to the President Cedric Richmond Resigned 5/18/22 House of Representatives 2024 Reelection Campaign Keisha Lance Bottoms
2 Executive Associate Director, Office of Management and Budget Aviva Aron-Dine Promoted 5/27/22 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Deputy Director, National Economic Council Unknown
2 Deputy Director, National Economic Council; Deputy Assistant to the President David Kamin Resigned 5/27/22 NYU School of Law NYU School of Law Aviva Aron-Dine
2 NSC Senior Director for African Affairs Dana Banks Promotion (lateral) 6/30/2022 State Department Senior Advisor for U.S. Africa Leaders Summit Judd Devermont
2 Deputy White House Counsel Jonathan Su Resigned 6/3/22 Latham & Watkins Latham & Watkins Richard Sauber
2 Deputy White House Counsel Danielle Conley Resigned 6/3/22 WilmerHale Latham & Watkins Stacey Grigsby
2 Deputy White House Counsel Stuart Delery Promoted 6/15/22* Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher White House Counsel Unknown
2 White House Counsel; Assistant to the President Dana Remus Resigned 6/15/22* Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Covington and Burling Stuart Delery
2 Domestic Policy Advisor for VP Rohini Kosoglu Resigned 7/15/22* Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Stanford University Unknown
2 Associate Director for Economic Policy, OMB Danny Yagan Resigned 7/15/2022 UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Zachary Liscow
2 Press Secretary to the First Lady Michael LaRosa Resigned 7/29/22 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Penta Group Elizabeth Alexander
2 Assistant to President, Office of Management and Administration Anne Filipic Resigned 9/2/2022 Obama Foundation Share Our Strength David L. Noble
2 National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy Resigned 9/16/2022 CEO, National Resources Defense Council America is All In Ali Zaidi
2 Senior Director for South Asia Sumona Guha Resigned October 2022 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign U.S. State Department Unknown
3 Chief of Staff Ron Klain Resigned 2/8/2023 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign O’Melveny Law Firm Jeff Zients
3 Deputy Director, Legislative Affairs Shuwanza Goff Resigned 2/10/2023 U.S. House, Director of Legislative Operations Cornerstone Government Affairs Ashley Jones
3 National Cyber Director Chris Inglis Resigned 2/15/2023 U.S. Naval Academy, Professor Member, Science and Technology Board, Office of the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), U.S. Department of Defense Harry Coker, Jr.
3 NSC, Senior Director for Russia and Central Asia Eric Green Resigned 2/19/2023 U.S. State Department (Foreign Service) Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Nicholas Berliner
3 Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese Resigned 2/21/2023 BlackRock MIT Lael Brainard
3 Communications Director Kate Bedingfield Resigned 3/1/2023 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign CNN political commentator Ben LaBolt
3 Chair, Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse Resigned 3/31/2023 Princeton University Princeton University Jared Bernstein
3 Director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Senior Advisor Julia Rodriguez Resigned 5/15/2023 Biden-Harris 2020 Campaign Campaign Manager, Biden Reelection Campaign Tom Perez
3 Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice Resigned 5/26/2023 Unknown Unknown Neera Tanden
3 Senior Adviser to the Director of the Domestic Policy Council Stefanie Feldman Promoted 5/26/2023 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Unknown
3 Member, Council of Economic Advisers Jared Bernstein Promoted 6/13/2023 Biden-Harris Transition Team Chair, Council of Economic Advisers Kirabo Jackson
3 Deputy Director, Office of Legislative Affairs Reema Dodin Resigned 6/16/2023 Senator Durbin (D-IL) Chief of Staff to Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) Unknown
3 Director, Office of Digital Strategy Rob Flaherty Resigned 6/30/2023 Biden-Harris 2020 Campaign Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Christan Tom
3 Director of Legislative Affairs Louisa Terrell Resigned 7/21/2023 McKinsey/Biden Transition Unknown Shuwanza Goff
3 NSC Senior Director for Europe Amanda Sloat Resigned 11/17/2023 Brookings Institution Unknown Unknown
4 Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President Michael Donilon Resigned 1/31/2024 Biden-Harris 2020 Campaign Chief Strategist, Biden-Harris 2024 Campaign Unknown
4 Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific NSC Kurt Campbell Promoted 2/6/2024 Biden-Harris 2020 Campaign Deputy Secretary of State Unknown
4 Deputy Chief of Staff Operations Jennifer O'Malley Dillon Resigned 2/9/24 Biden-Harris 2020 Campaign Biden-Harris 2024 campaign Annie Tomasini
4 Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Oval Office Operations Annie Tomasini Promoted 2/9/24 Biden-Harris 2020 Campaign Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff Richard Ruffner
SUMMARY: 47/66 (71%) "A-Team" positions have turned over.
Author's note: In some cases, the exact date of an individual’s departure was unable to be determined, and we are often left with a month of departure. In those circumstances, we utilize a presidential announcement, a different public announcement or simply include the month. We indicate this by use of an asterisk (*).
Sources: Multiple news websites, LinkedIn, WhiteHouse.gov, and other government websites.
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Cabinet Turnover

Turnover within President Biden’s Cabinet

President Biden’s Cabinet turnover is 13% as of March 18, 2024.

The chart and table below are dedicated to tracking turnover in the Cabinet. They will 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 the same position. To understand Tenpas’s definition of Cabinet membership, please read “Who is in the president’s Cabinet?”

Summary of Cabinet departures in the Biden administration

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

Year Position Name Nature of departure Date of departure Prior job Where to? Successor
3 Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh Resigned 3/11/2023 Mayor of Boston, Massachusetts NHL Player's Association Julie Su (nomination pending)
4 Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Marcia Fudge Resigned 3/22/2024 Member of the House of Representatives Unknown Adrianne Todman (acting)
SUMMARY: 2/15 (13%) Cabinet positions have turned over.
Sources: Agency websites, presidential library websites, and various news sources.

Author

Katie Dunn Tenpas_headshot
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Visiting Fellow - Governance Studies, Director - The Katzmann Initiative on Improving Interbranch Relations and Government

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Governance Studies

Region

U.S. States and Territories

Center

Center for Effective Public Management

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The Katzmann Initiative on Improving Interbranch Relations and Government