The rate of turnover among senior level advisers to President Trump has generated a great deal of attention. Below, we offer four resources to help measure and contextualize this turnover. The first set of resources tracks turnover among senior-ranking advisers in the executive office of the president (which does not include Cabinet secretaries), whereas the second set of resources tracks turnover in the Cabinet.
Turnover on the president’s “A Team”
President Trump’s “A Team” turnover is 66% as of April 8, 2019
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 Dunn Tenpas’s methodology is described in detail in a report she published in January 2018. 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.
- The count for Donald Trump’s “Year 3” is ongoing.
- Each position on the “A Team” is only counted once. If multiple people hold and depart from the same position (e.g., communications director), only the initial departure is tracked/affects the turnover rate.
Summary and analysis of “A Team” turnover in the Trump administration
Set out below is a list of the senior level departures from the executive office of the president since the beginning of the Trump administration (each of the 65 “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). Highlighted text indicates a position that went through multiple instances of turnover; see below for more details.
| Year | Position | Name | Prior Job | Nature of departure* | Date of departure announcement | Where to? | Successor |
| 1 | Senior Director for Africa, NSC | Robin Townley | Marines | Resigned Under Pressure (RUP) | 2/10/2017 | Sonoran Policy Group (lobbying and consulting) | Cyril Sartor |
| 1 | Chief of Staff and Executive Sec’y, NSC | Keith Kellogg | Cubic Defense | Promoted | 2/13/2017 | Acting National Security Adviser | H.R. McMaster |
| 1 | National Security Adviser | Michael Flynn | Trump Campaign | RUP | 2/13/2017 | Unknown | H.R. McMaster |
| 1 | Deputy Chief of Staff | Katie Walsh | RNC | RUP | 3/30/2017 | America First Policies then RNC (7/21/17) | Kirstjen Nielsen |
| 1 | Deputy National Security Adviser | KT McFarland | TV analyst | Promoted | 5/19/2017 | Ambassadorial nomination withdrew/unknown | Dina Powell |
| 1 | Assistant to the President (AP) and Senior Counselor for Economic Initiatives | Dina Powell | Goldman Sachs | Promoted | 5/19/2017 | Deputy National Security Adviser | Unknown |
| 1 | AP and Communications Director | Michael Dubke | Black Rock Group | RUP | 5/29/2017 | Georgetown University lecturer, Black Rock Group | Scaramucci** |
| 1 | Press Secretary | Sean Spicer | RNC | RUP | 7/21/2017 | Worldwide Speakers Group | Sarah H. Sanders |
| 1 | Principal Deputy Press Secretary | Sarah H. Sanders | Trump Campaign | Promoted | 7/21/2017 | Press Secretary | Raj Shah |
| 1 | AP and Chief of Staff to the VP | Josh Pitcock | Capitol Hill | Resigned | 7/28/2017 | Oracle | Nick Ayers |
| 1 | Chief of Staff | Reince Priebus | RNC | RUP | 7/31/2017 | Law firm | John Kelly |
| 1 | AP and Director of Public Liaison | George Sifakis | Gov’t Relations | RUP | 7/31/2017 | Ideagen | Justin Clark |
| 1 | Senior Intelligence Director, NSC | Ezra Cohen-Watnick | U.S. Government (DIA) | RUP | 8/2/2017 | Oracle | Mike Barry |
| 1 | AP and Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the President | Steve Bannon | Media | RUP | 8/18/2017 | Breitbart News/fired 1/9/18 | Unknown |
| 1 | Deputy AP and Director of Presidential Advance | George Gigicos | Consulting | RUP | 8/22/2017 | Consulting | Robert L. Peede |
| 1 | National Security Adviser for VP | Andrea Thompson | House Homeland Security Committee (Michael McCaul R-TX) | Promoted | 9/11/2017 | Special Adviser in the Office of Policy Planning, U.S. State Department | Lieutenant General (Ret) Keith Kellogg, Jr. |
| 1 | AP and Director of Strategic Communications | Hope Hicks | Trump Organization | Promoted | 9/12/2017 | Communications Director** | Mercedes Schlapp |
| 1 | DAP and Deputy Communications Director and Research Director | Raj Shah | RNC | Promoted | 9/12/2017 | Principal Deputy Press Secretary | Unknown |
| 1 | Deputy AP and Director of Oval Office Operations | Keith Schiller | Trump Organization | RUP | 9/20/2017 | Private Security Consulting | Jordan Karem |
| 1 | Deputy AP and Deputy White House Counsel | Greg Katsas | Law Firm | Resigned | 11/28/2017 | Federal judge, DC Circuit | Uttam Dhillon |
| 1 | AP and Director of Communications, Office of Public Liaison | Omarosa Manigault | Reality Television | RUP | 12/13/2017 | Celebrity Big Brother | Unknown |
| 1 | Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council and Director of Budget Policy | Paul Winfree | Heritage Foundation | Resigned | 12/15/2017 | Heritage Foundation | Lance Leggitt |
| 2 | AP and Deputy Chief of Staff | Rick Dearborn | U.S. Senate staff | Resigned | 12/23/17 resignation announced, departed 3/13/2018 | The Cypress Group | Unknown |
| 2 | AP and Staff Secretary | Rob Porter | U.S. Senate Staff | RUP | 2/7/2018 | Unknown | Derek Lyons |
| 2 | Senior Director of Legislative Affairs, NSC | Daniel Greenwood | Marines | Promoted | 2/9/2018 | Lateral move to Deputy AP and Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs | Paul J. Miller |
| 2 | AP and Director of Presidential Personnel | John DeStefano | U.S. House of Representatives Staff | Promoted | 2/9/2018 | AP and Counsel to the President overseeing Public Liaison, Personnel and Political Affairs | Sean Doocey (DAP) |
| 2 | AP for Intergovernmental and Technology Initiatives | Reed Cordish | Real Estate | Resigned | 2/16/2018 | Partner, Cordish Companies | Brooke L. Rollins |
| 2 | AP and Director of the National Economic Council | Gary Cohn | Goldman Sachs | Resigned | 3/6/2018 | Unknown | Larry Kudlow |
| 2 | CIA Director | Mike Pompeo | Member, House of Representatives (R-KS) | Promoted | 3/13/2018 | Secretary of State | Gina Haspel |
| 2 | DAP and Director of Intergovernmental Affairs | Justin Clark | Trump Campaign | Promoted | 3/13/2018 | Director, White House Office of Public Liaison | Douglas Hoelscher |
| 2 | Deputy CIA Director | Gina Haspel | CIA | Promoted | 3/13/2018 | CIA Director | Vaughan Bishop |
| 2 | AP and Director for Strategic Initiatives | Chris Liddell | WME/IMG | Promoted | 3/19/2018 | Deputy Chief of Staff | Unknown |
| 2 | AP for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism | Thomas Bossert | Atlantic Council | RUP | 4/10/2018 | Unknown | Doug Fears |
| 2 | DAP and Director of Policy and Interagency Coordination | Carlos Diaz-Rosillo | Harvard University | Promoted | 6/19/2018 | Senior Deputy Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities | Unknown |
| 2 | DAP and and Senior Adviser to the Chief of Staff | Sean Cairncross | RNC | Promoted | Unknown (nominated for MCC 1/5/18) | Millennium Challenge Corp. (if confirmed) | Unknown |
| 2 | Deputy Director, National Economic Council and International Economic Affairs | Everett Eissenstat | Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) | Resigned | 7/15/2018 | General Motors | Clete Willems |
| 2 | AP and White House Director of Legislative Affairs | Marc Short | Trump Campaign | Resigned | 7/20/2018 | Guidepost Strategies and UVA | Shahira Knight |
| 2 | DAP and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President | Jen Pavlik | Office of Governor Pence | Resigned | August 2018 | Keystone | Unknown |
| 2 | Counsel to the President | Donald McGahn | Trump Campaign | Resigned | 10/17/2018 | Jones Day | Pat Cipollone |
| 2 | SAP and Director of Communications | Stephanie Grisham | Trump Campaign | Promoted | November 2018 | Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications | Unknown |
| 2 | DAP and Political Director | Bill Stepien | Trump Campaign | Resigned | 12/7/2018 | Trump Re-election Campaign | Brian Jack |
| 2 | OMB Director | Mick Mulvaney | Member, House of Representatives (R-SC) | Promoted | 12/14/2018 | Acting Chief of Staff | Russell Vought |
| 3 | Administrator, OIRA | Neomi Rao | George Mason Law School | Resigned | 3/13/19 | Federal judge, D.C. Circuit | Unknown |
| SUMMARY: 43/65 (66%) “A Team” positions have turned over; 14 Resigned Under Pressure; 17 Promoted; 12 Resigned | |||||||
| * Author’s Note: The departure status was difficult to determine in some cases because media reports were often at odds with an individual’s claim that they were resigning. In the end, I decided to create the category “resigned under pressure,” which I believe captures the general sentiment at the time of their departure. Highlighted text indicates a position that went through multiple instances of turnover; see below for more details. | |||||||
| ** Author’s note: Anthony Scaramucci was Communications Director for 11 days. He was succeeded by Hope Hicks, who resigned Feb. 28, 2018. On July 5, 2018, Bill Shine was appointed Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications. | |||||||
| Sources: Multiple internet sites including LinkedIn, WhiteHouse.gov and numerous news sites. | |||||||
Serial turnover within the Trump “A Team”
The turnover data above include only the president’s initial team of advisers and when one departs, the position falls out of the sample. One of the limitations of this approach is that it does not consider multiple departures within a single position, a common phenomenon within the Trump team. Set out below are the “A Team” positions that have had more than two occupants.
28% of President Trump’s “A Team” departures have undergone serial turnover as of April 8, 2019
| Position | Original | Replacement 1 | Replacement 2 | Replacement 3 | Replacement 4 |
| Chief of Staff | Reince Priebus | John Kelly | Mick Mulvaney (acting) | ||
| Deputy Chief of Staff* | Katie Walsh | Kirstjen Nielsen | Zachary Fuentes | Emma Doyle | |
| Chief of Staff to the VP | Josh Pitcock | Nick Ayers | Marc Short | ||
| Communications Director* | Michael Dubke | Anthony Scaramucci | Hope Hicks | Bill Shine | Not yet named |
| Principal Deputy Press Secretary | Sarah Huckabee Sanders | Raj Shah | Hogan Gidley | ||
| Director of Public Liaison | George Sifakis | Justin Clark | Timothy Pataki | ||
| Director of Oval Office Operations | Keith Schiller | Jordan Karem | Madeleine Westerhout | ||
| Deputy AP and Deputy White House Council** | Greg Katsas | Uttam Dhillon | Michael Purpura | ||
| National Security Adviser | Michael Flynn | HR McMaster | John Bolton | ||
| Deputy National Security Adviser | KT McFarland | Dina Powell | Nadia Schadlow | Mira Ricardel | Charles Kupperman |
| Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary, NSC | Keith Kellogg | Frederick Fleitz | Joan Virginia O’Hara | ||
| Senior Director of Intelligence, NSC | Ezra Cohen Watnick | Michael Barry (departed July 2018 after McMaster) | Not yet named | ||
| Deputy Director, National Economic Council and International Economic Affairs | Everett Eissenstat | Cletus Willems | Kelly Ann Shaw | ||
| SUMMARY: 13/43 (30%) “A Team” departures have turned over more than twice. | |||||
| * Author’s note: For the purposes of this study, we count Michael Dubke as the first communications director, since Sean Spicer was serving in a temporary capacity until the Trump administration filled the job with a permanent candidate. | |||||
| ** Author’s note: Notice that there are multiple deputies under the chief of staff and White House counsel. The data reflect an attempt to track just a single deputy position and note the successor. However, there is minimal publicly available information on presidential staffing. It is also the case that a new chief of staff may not have a “first among equals” deputy chief of staff, such that the role may have changed since the original occupant. The same is true for White House Counsel. While Greg Katsas may have been the “first among equals” among the Deputy White House Counsel positions in 2017, the role may have changed under the new White House Counsel, Pat Cipollone. | |||||
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.
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 | Chief of Staff | Reince Priebus | RNC | Resigned Under Pressure (RUP) | 7/28/2017 | Michael Best and Friedrich LLP (Lobbying) | John F. Kelly |
| 1 | Secretary of Health and Human Services | Tom Price | Member of the House | RUP | 9/29/2017 | Jackson Healthcare | Alex Azar |
| 2 | CIA Director | Mike Pompeo | Member of the House | Promoted | 3/13/2018 | Secretary of State | Gina Haspel |
| 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 | Environmental Protection Agency Administrator | Scott Pruitt | Oklahoma Attorney General | RUP | 7/5/2018 | Unknown | Andrew Wheeler |
| 2 | U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations | Nikki Haley | South Carolina Governor | Resigned | 10/9/2018 (effective end of 2018) | Unknown | Unknown |
| 2 | Attorney General | Jeff Sessions | U.S. Senator | RUP | 11/7/2018 | Unknown | William Barr |
| 2 | Chief of Staff | John F. Kelly | Secretary of Homeland Security | RUP | 12/08/2018 | Unknown | Mick Mulvaney (Acting) |
| 2 | OMB Director | Mick Mulvaney | Member of the House | Promoted | 12/14/2018 | Acting Chief of Staff | Russell Vought (Acting) |
| 2 | Secretary of Interior | Ryan Zinke | Member of the House | RUP | 12/15/2018 (effective end of 2018) | Artillery One | David Bernhardt |
| 2 | Secretary of Defense | Jim Mattis | Retired | Protest Resignation (PR) | 12/20/2018 | Unknown | Patrick Shanahan (Acting) |
| 3 | Small Business Administrator | Linda McMahon | Political candidate | Resigned | 3/29/2019 | America First Action | Jovita Carranza |
| 3 | Secretary of Homeland Security | Kirstjen Nielsen | Deputy Chief of Staff | RUP | 4/7/2019 | Unclear | Kevin McAleenan (acting) |
| Sources: Agency websites and various news sources. Note: Many thanks to Elaine Kamarck and Nicholas Zeppos, who contributed to the initial data collection for this section. | |||||||
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