President Trump announced the resignation of Kevin K. McAleenan, the acting secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, after a six-month tenure. He was the fourth homeland security secretary and was never nominated to permanently assume the position.
Cabinet/federal agency
White House
Forced out
Resigned
While Mr. Perry has been one of the longest-serving cabinet members in the Trump administration, Mr. Trump has the record for cabinet turnover in a president’s first term, according to Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a scholar at the Brookings Institution who wrote a presidential staff turnover study. He also has the record for White House churn, she said.
Some roles have been more volatile than others.
For example, Stephanie Grisham is the sixth person to serve as White House communications chief. Previous stints in that role ranged from less than a week (Anthony Scaramucci) to about eight months (Bill Shine, the former Fox News executive). Sean Spicer, while serving as press secretary, filled the position twice — once in an acting capacity after Michael Dubke resigned.
Communications chief
7
CURRENT
6
RESIGNED
5
RESIGNED
4
FIRED
3
INTERIM
2
RESIGNED
1
National security adviser
5
CURRENT
4
FIRED
3
FORCED OUT
2
INTERIM
1
FIRED
Secretary of homeland security
4
RESIGNED
3
FORCED OUT
2
INTERIM
1
MOVED
Secretary of veterans affairs
4
CURRENT
3
WITHDREW
2
INTERIM
1
FIRED
Secretary of health and human services
4
CURRENT
3
INTERIM
2
INTERIM
1
FORCED OUT
Administrator of Small Business Administration
3
NOMINATED
2
ACTING
1
RESIGNED
Dir. of national intelligence
3
ACTING
2
WITHDREW
1
FORCED OUT
Attorney general
3
CURRENT
2
INTERIM
1
FORCED OUT
Secretary of Defense
3
CURRENT
2
WITHDREW
1
RESIGNED
Chief of staff
3
ACTING
2
FORCED OUT
1
FORCED OUT
Press secretary
3
CURRENT
2
RESIGNED
1
RESIGNED
E.P.A. administrator
2
CURRENT
1
FORCED OUT
Budget director
2
ACTING
1
MOVED
Secretary of Interior
2
CURRENT
1
RESIGNED
Secretary of Labor
2
ACTING
1
FORCED OUT
Secretary of state
2
CURRENT
1
FIRED
C.I.A. director
2
CURRENT
1
MOVED
Chief economic adviser
2
CURRENT
1
RESIGNED
“The disruption is highly consequential,” Max Stier, the president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization that specializes in federal government management issues. “When you lose a leader, it has a cascade effect throughout the organization.”
A New York Times analysis of 21 top White House and cabinet positions back to President Bill Clinton’s first term shows how unusual the Trump administration’s upheaval was through the first 14 months of a presidency. Nine of these positions had turned over at least once during the Trump administration, compared with three at the same point of the Clinton administration, two under President Barack Obama and one under President George W. Bush.
Turnover in Each Administration’s First 14th MonthsNumber of people who held a position
1
2
3
4
No turnover
Donald J. Trump(through March 2018)
Barack Obama
George W. Bush
Bill Clinton
On several occasions, Mr. Trump has filled newly open positions with officials already in his administration. He chose Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, to replace Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson, and Mr. Pompeo’s deputy, Gina Haspel, to replace Mr. Pompeo. Hope Hicks, a longtime aide and confidant, took over communications after Mr. Scaramucci’s disastrous tenure. And Kirstjen Nielsen crisscrossed from the Department of Homeland Security to the White House and then back again (before leaving the administration a few months ago).
“There’s a pull to fill from within, but that’s often a bad idea,” Mr. Stier said. “Not only does it create a new vacancy but you’re also not expanding the talent pool. One of the primary leadership challenges is getting information from outside the bubble you exist in.”
Full List of Major Departures
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED OCT. 11, 2019
Kevin K. McAleenan
Acting secretary for Homeland Security
Mr. McAleenan, who started in the Trump administration as the commissioner of United States Customs and Border Protection, spent his short tenure as secretary trying to curb a surge of asylum seekers at the southwestern border while managing a turbulent relationship with Mr. Trump.Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED OCT. 4, 2019
Rick Perry
Energy secretary
Mr. Perry, who has aggressively promoted President Trump’s fossil fuel agenda, is planning to step down by December, ending his run as one of the longest-serving cabinet members in the Trump administration. Read more »
FIRED ON SEPT. 10, 2019
John R. Bolton
National security adviser
Mr. Bolton, an outspoken advocate of military action who served in the George W. Bush administration, disagreed with Mr. Trump over how to handle major foreign policy challenges in Iran, North Korea and Afghanistan. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED SEPT. 5, 2019
Jason Greenblatt
Special envoy for Middle East peace
Mr. Greenblatt, a former lawyer to the Trump Organization, has worked closely with Mr. Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, on a long-delayed plan to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Read more »
FORCED OUT JULY 28, 2019
Dan Coats
Director of national intelligence
Mr. Trump announced on Twitter that Mr. Coats would step down after a fraught tenure marked by tension with the Oval Office. Read more »
FORCED OUT JULY 12, 2019
R. Alexander Acosta
Labor secretary
Mr. Acosta resigned following controversy over a lenient plea deal he made with Jeffrey Epstein when he was a prosecutor in Florida. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED JUNE 18, 2019
Patrick M. Shanahan
Acting secretary of defense
Mr. Trump announced on Twitter that he was pulling Mr. Shanahan's nomination to be the permanent defense secretary. He named Mark T. Esper, the secretary of the Army, to take over as acting secretary of defense. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED JUNE 13, 2019
Sarah Huckabee Sanders
White House press secretary
Mr. Trump announced on Twitter that Ms. Sanders will resign at the end of June. Read more »
RESIGNATION EFFECTIVE MAY 11, 2019
Rod J. Rosenstein
Deputy attorney general
Mr. Rosenstein intended to leave in mid-March but stayed on for the completion of the special counsel's Russia investigation. He announced his resignation on April 29. Read more »
RESIGNED ON APRIL 8, 2019
Randolph D. Alles
Director of Secret Service
Mr. Trump sought Mr. Alles’s resignation in part because of the recent arrest of a Chinese woman who carrying a malware-laced device on the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort property in Florida. Read more »
RESIGNED ON APRIL 7, 2019
Kirstjen Nielsen
Homeland security secretary
Ms. Nielsen resigned under pressure from Mr. Trump, ending a tumultuous tenure in charge of the border security agency.Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED MARCH 29, 2019
Linda E. McMahon
Administrator of Small Business Administration
Ms. McMahon, the former chief executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, is expected to take a position at the America First PAC, the political action committee supporting Mr. Trump's re-election. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED MARCH 8, 2019
Heather Wilson
Air Force secretary
Ms. Wilson is expected to resign in May to return to academia, according to Reuters. Read more »
RESIGNED ON MARCH 8, 2019
Bill Shine
Deputy chief of staff for communications
Mr. Shine, a former Fox News executive who joined the White House staff to manage President Trump’s communications operation, resigned to move to Mr. Trump’s re-election campaign. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED FEB. 13, 2019
Brock Long
Administrator of Federal Emergency Management Agency
Mr. Long announced his resignation after two years as head of FEMA. He was praised for his agency’s response to Hurricane Harvey but sharply criticized for its handling of Hurricane Maria’s devastation of Puerto Rico. Read more »
RESIGNED ON JAN. 5, 2019
Raj Shah
Principal deputy press secretary
Mr. Shah, a top spokesman in the White House press office, left to join a Florida-based lobbying firm. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED DEC. 20, 2018
Jim Mattis
Secretary of Defense
Mr. Mattis resigned a day after Mr. Trump announced plans to withdraw troops from Syria. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED DEC. 15, 2018
Ryan Zinke
Secretary of Interior
A key figure in the president’s sweeping plan to reshape the nation’s environmental framework, Mr. Zinke will leave his post at the end of the year. His departure comes amid numerous ethics investigations into his business dealings, travel and policy decisions. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED DEC. 9, 2018
Nick Ayers
Chief of staff to vice president
Mr. Ayers declined President Trump's offer to be his new chief of staff and announced that he would leave the administration at the end of the year. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED DEC. 8, 2018
John F. Kelly
White House chief of staff
President Trump announced that Mr. Kelly, who had been brought in last year to impose order on the West Wing, would step down by the end of the year. Read more »
FIRED NOV. 7, 2018
Jeff Sessions
Attorney general
After months of verbal abuse by Mr. Trump, the president fired Mr. Sessions the day after midterm elections that handed control of the House to Democrats. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED OCT. 9, 2018
Nikki Haley
U.N. Ambassador
The departure of Ms. Haley, who had been an early and frequent critic of Mr. Trump, will mean one less moderate Republican voice on the president’s foreign policy team.Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED AUG. 29, 2018
Donald F. McGahn II
White House counsel
Mr. McGahn's upcoming departure was announced by Mr. Trump on Twitter. Mr. McGahn is a key witness to whether the president tried to obstruct the investigation into Russian election interference. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED JULY 5, 2018
Scott Pruitt
E.P.A. administrator
Mr. Pruitt had been hailed as a hero among conservatives for his zealous deregulation, but he could not overcome the stain of numerous ethics questions about his alleged spending abuses, first-class travel and cozy relationships with lobbyists.Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED JUNE 19, 2018
Joseph W. Hagin
Deputy chief of staff
Mr. Hagin, who previously served for 14 years under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush and George W. Bush, has more experience on the White House staff than nearly any other person in modern times. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED APRIL 12, 2018
Maj. Gen. Ricky Waddell
Deputy national security adviser
The White House said Mr. Waddell "will stay on board for the immediate future to help ensure a smooth and orderly transition."
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED APRIL 11, 2018
Nadia Schadlow
Deputy national security adviser for strategy
Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster asked Ms. Schadlow to join his staff as a deputy assistant to the president for national security strategy in March. She took over for Dina H. Powell as deputy national security adviser for strategy in January.
FORCED OUT APRIL 10, 2018
Thomas P. Bossert
Homeland security adviser
Mr. Bossert's resignation coincided with the arrival of John R. Bolton as the president’s national security adviser, and was an unmistakable sign that Mr. Bolton is intent on naming his own people. Read more »
FORCED OUT APRIL 8, 2018
Michael Anton
National Security Council spokesman
The White House announced Mr. Anton's plans to leave the administration the day before Mr. Trump's third national security adviser, John R. Bolton, formally took his post.
FIRING ANNOUNCED MARCH 13, 2018
Rex W. Tillerson
Secretary of State
Mr. Tillerson learned he had been fired when a top aide showed him a tweet from Mr. Trump announcing that he would be replaced by Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director. Read more »
RESIGNED MARCH 29, 2018
Hope Hicks
White House communications director
Ms. Hicks, one of Mr. Trump‘s most trusted advisers, announced in early March that she would resign in the coming weeks. Read more »
FIRED MARCH 28, 2018
David J. Shulkin
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
After weeks of uncertainty, Mr. Trump said he planned to replace Mr. Shulkin with his White House physician, Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, a rear admiral in the Navy. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED MARCH 22, 2018
Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster
National security adviser
General McMaster resigned under pressure after it became clear that Mr. Trump wanted him out. He was replaced by John R. Bolton, a hard-line former United States ambassador to the United Nations. Read more »
RESIGNED MARCH 16, 2018
Rick Dearborn
White House deputy chief of staff
Mr. Dearborn had been overseeing a broad cross section of departments, including the political department. Read more »
FIRED MARCH 16, 2018
Andrew McCabe
F.B.I. deputy director
Mr. McCabe was fired after the Justice Department rejected an appeal that would have let him retire. He is accused in a yet-to-be-released internal report of failing to be forthcoming about a conversation he authorized between F.B.I. officials and a journalist. Read more »
FORCED OUT MARCH 12, 2018
John McEntee
President Trump’s personal aide
Mr. McEntee, who served as President Trump’s personal assistant since Mr. Trump won the presidency, was forced out of his position and escorted from the White House after an investigation into his finances caused his security clearance to be revoked. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED MARCH 6, 2018
Gary D. Cohn
Director of White House National Economic Council
The announcement of the resignation of Mr. Cohn, Mr. Trump's top economic adviser, came as Mr. Cohn seemed poised to lose an internal struggle over the president's plan to impose large tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Read more »
RESIGNED FEB. 9, 2018
Rachel L. Brand
Associate attorney general
The No. 3 official at the Justice Department stepped down after nine months to take a job as the global governance director at Walmart. Read more »
FORCED OUT FEB. 9, 2018
David Sorensen
White House speechwriter
Mr. Sorensen resigned after a news report detailed accusations from a former wife who said he had abused her during their marriage. Read more »
FORCED OUT FEB. 7, 2018
Rob Porter
White House staff secretary
Mr. Porter resigned one day after his two former wives accused him in interviews of physical abuse during their marriages. Read more »
FORCED OUT JAN. 31, 2018
Brenda Fitzgerald
Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Ms. Fitzgerald resigned over troubling financial investments in tobacco and health care companies that posed potential conflicts of interest. Read more »
FORCED OUT JAN. 18, 2018
Carl Higbie
Chief of external affairs for Corporation for National and Community Service
Resigned under pressure after CNN surfaced disparaging remarks he had made in the past about black people, Muslims, gays and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.Read more »
FIRED DEC. 13, 2017
Omarosa Manigault Newman
Director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison
A former contestant on Mr. Trump’s reality TV show “The Apprentice,” Ms. Newman was fired by Mr. Trump's chief of staff, John F. Kelly. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED DEC. 8, 2017
Dina H. Powell
Deputy national security adviser for strategy
One of the most influential women in the Trump administration, Ms. Powell is returning to Goldman Sachs.Read more »
FORCED OUT SEPT. 29, 2017
Tom Price
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Mr. Price resigned under pressure after racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel bills for chartered flights.Read more »
RESIGNED SEPT. 20, 2017
Keith Schiller
Director of Oval Office operations
Mr. Trump's longtime aide and former bodyguard decided to leave the White House soon after Mr. Kelly arrived.Read more »
FORCED OUT AUG. 25, 2017
Sebastian Gorka
Adviser
Mr. Gorka was forced out shortly after Mr. Bannon left the White House. Read more »
RESIGNATION ANNOUNCED AUG. 18, 2017
George Sifakis
Director of White House Office of Public Liaison
Mr. Sifakis stepped down soon after Reince Priebus, Mr. Trump’s first chief of staff, was forced out.
FORCED OUT AUG. 18, 2017
Stephen K. Bannon
Chief strategist
Mr. Trump's populist chief strategist was pushed out shortly after Mr. Kelly took over as chief of staff. Read more »
FIRED JULY 31, 2017
Anthony Scaramucci
White House communications director
Mr. Scaramucci was fired on Mr. Kelly's first day in the White House. His dismissal came days after he unloaded a crude verbal tirade against other members of the president’s staff in a conversation with a reporter for The New Yorker.Read more »
FORCED OUT JULY 28, 2017
Reince Priebus
White House chief of staff
Mr. Priebus was forced out after a stormy six-month tenure.Read more »
RESIGNED JULY 21, 2017
Sean Spicer
White House press secretary
Mr. Spicer resigned after telling Mr. Trump he vehemently disagreed with his appointment of Mr. Scaramucci as his new communications director. Read more »
RESIGNED JUNE 2, 2017
Mike Dubke
White House communications director
Mr. Dubke told colleagues he was resigning for reasons that were “personal.” Read more »
FORCED OUT MAY 19, 2017
K. T. McFarland
Deputy national security adviser
Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster pushed Ms. McFarland out after he took over for Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump's first national security adviser. She was nominated as ambassador to Singapore but withdrew her nomination after it stalled in the Senate. Read more »
FIRED MAY 9, 2017
James B. Comey
F.B.I. director
Mr. Trump said on national television that he fired Mr. Comey because he was frustrated over the F.B.I.’s investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 campaign and its possible contacts with Mr. Trump’s advisers. Read more »
FORCED OUT MARCH 30, 2017
Katie Walsh
White House deputy chief of staff
Ms. Walsh was forced out by Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a top White House adviser, and other West Wing officials.
FORCED OUT FEB. 13, 2017
Michael T. Flynn
National security adviser
Mr. Flynn was forced to resign amid questions about whether he lied to administration officials about the nature of his conversations with the Russian ambassador to the United States. Read more »
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