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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.
Report

Tracking turnover in 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.

Turnover on President Biden’s “A-Team”

President Biden’s “A-Team” turnover is 52% as of May 26, 2023.

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.

Summary of “A-Team” turnover in the Biden administration

Set out below is a list of the senior-level departures from the executive office of the president since the beginning of the Biden administration (each of the 66 “A-Team” positions is only counted once toward the turnover rate, thus, this chart only includes the first person to hold/depart a given position).

Year Position 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 Deputy Counsel to the President; Legal Advisor to the National Security Council Jonathan Cedarbaum Resigned 1/31/22 WilmerHale Unknown 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 Unknown 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 Unknown Philip Gordon
2 Coordinator of the COVID-19 Response; Counselor to the President Jeff Zients Resigned 4/5/22 Cranemere Group Unknown 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 Unknown Lorraine Voles
2 Deputy Director of Communications; Special Assistant to the President Pili Tobar Resigned 5/2/22 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Unknown Unknown
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 Unknown 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 Deputy White House Counsel Jonathan Su Resigned 6/3/22 Latham & Watkins Latham & Watkins Unknown
2 Deputy White House Counsel Danielle Conley Resigned 6/3/22 WilmerHale Latham & Watkins Unknown
2 Deputy White House Counsel Stuart Delery Promoted 6/15/22* Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher Unknown Unknown
2 White House Counsel; Assistant to the President Dana Remus Resigned 6/15/22* Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Unknown Stuart Delery
2 Domestic Policy Advisor for VP Rohini Kosoglu Resigned 7/15/22* Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Unknown Unknown
2 Press Secretary to the First Lady Michael LaRosa Resigned 7/29/22 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Unknown Unknown
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 Unknown Ali Zaidi
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 Associate Director for Economic Policy, OMB Danny Yagan Resigned 7/15/2022 UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Zachary Liscow
3 Chief of Staff Ron Klain Resigned 2/8/2023 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign O’Melveny Law Firm Jeff Zients
3 National Cyber Director Chris Inglis Resigned 2/15/2023 U.S. Naval Academy, Professor Unknown Kemba Eneas Walden
3 Director of the National Economic Council Brian Deese Resigned 2/21/2023 BlackRock Unknown Lael Brainard
3 Communications Director Kate Bedingfield Resigned 3/1/2023 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Unknown Ben LaBolt
3 Chair, Council of Economic Advisers Cecilia Rouse Resigned 3/31/2023 Princeton University Princeton University Jared Bernstein (nominated)
3 Director, Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and Senior Advisor Julie Rodriguez Resigned 5/15/2023 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Campaign Manager, Biden Reelection Campaign Unknown
3 Domestic Policy Advisor Susan Rice Resigned 5/26/2023 Unknown Unknown Neera Tanden
3 Senior Advisor to the Director of Domestic Policy Council Stefanie Feldman Promoted 5/26/2023 Biden-Harris 2020 campaign Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary Unknown
SUMMARY: 34/66 (52%) “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. In those circumstances, the date of the individual’s departure announcement was used and is indicated by an asterisk (*).
Sources: Multiple news websites, LinkedIn, WhiteHouse.gov, and other government websites.

 

Turnover within President Biden’s Cabinet

President Biden’s Cabinet turnover is 7% as of April 5, 2023.

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)

SUMMARY: 1/15 (7%) Cabinet positions have turned over.
Sources: Agency websites, presidential library websites, and various news sources.

Report Produced by Governance Studies

Viewed as a leading, independent voice in the domestic policymaking sphere, the Governance Studies program at Brookings is dedicated to analyzing policy issues, political institutions and processes, and contemporary governance challenges. Our scholarship identifies areas in need of reform and proposes specific solutions to improve governance worldwide, but with a particular emphasis on the United States.

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