Tracking turnover in the second Trump administration

Documenting staff turnover at the most senior levels of the Executive Office of the President tells us a great deal about the management and functioning of the modern presidency. Shortly after the start of President Trump’s first term, there was a great deal of interest in the comings and goings of his senior leadership. The data below track the turnover among “A” Team staff members within the Executive Office of the President and the president’s Cabinet (limited to the 15 individuals in the line of presidential succession).

The data reflect turnover at the highest level within the Executive Office of the President. Brookings scholar, Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, refers to this group of staff members as the “A Team,” and utilized the National Journal “Decision Makers” editions to identify “A Team” positions. See here for more detail. The current president’s turnover rate is compared to his seven predecessors (going back to President Reagan in 1981).

Please note the following:

• The “A Team” excludes Cabinet secretaries, though we track Cabinet turnover as well at the bottom of this page.
• Each position on the “A Team” is only counted once. If a staff member departs, we do not continue to track turnover in that specific position—only the initial departure is calculated in the turnover figure.

Summary and analysis of “A Team” turnover in the second Trump administration.

The table below is a list of high-level departures from the Executive Office of the President beginning on January 20, 2025.

The chart below tracks turnover in the Cabinet (the 15 department leaders in the line of presidential succession, see here for clarification). It compares the current president to his seven predecessors going back to Ronald Reagan in 1981.