Donald Trump's administration has seen a revolving door of Cabinet members in its first 2 1/2 years. But now the highest-level positions of his Cabinet are one departure away from being the most prolific at it in the last 40 years.
The Brookings Institution has been tracking the comings and goings of Trump's Cabinet as well as his senior White House staff.
Brookings says there have been eight departures from Trump's Cabinet among the heads of the executive departments -- the ones in the presidential line of succession -- since Trump was sworn in less than 2 1/2 years ago.
Going back to 1981, that is already tied for the most in an entire first term. President George H.W. Bush had eight departures between 1989-1993.
Of the eight official departures, Brookings says six resigned under pressure. One was "promoted" when John Kelly transferred from Department of Homeland Security secretary to the second White House chief of staff. The other was Mattis, who resigned under protest reportedly because Trump abruptly announced he was withdrawing U.S. forces from Syria.
Some could argue Trump's turnover list is as high as 10, but Brookings does not include acting secretaries who have since moved on. Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigned in November 2018 and was replaced by Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker. Whitaker was eventually replaced by William Barr, who was confirmed by the Senate. As Whitaker was simply keeping the seat warm, Brookings did not include him as a "departure."
Trump announced Tuesday that Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan was leaving to spend more time with his family. He had been nominated for the permanent position after the departure of James Mattis last December.
Since Shanahan was never confirmed, he -- like Whitaker -- will likely be considered a placeholder on this list once a new, permanent secretary is confirmed.
But one more in the next 19 months will mean the highest turnover rate for executive leadership Cabinet positions in the last four decades for a first-term president.
Other tidbits:
- Trump had more executive leadership Cabinet departures in 2018 alone (5) than George W. Bush (2), Barack Obama (3) and Bill Clinton (4) did in their entire first four years.
- No president going back to Reagan lost an executive leadership Cabinet secretary in the first year of their presidency. Trump lost two, albeit one was a promotion.
- George H.W. Bush had eight departures in his entire one-term presidency, but none in the first two years.
Brookings said it did not include lower-level Cabinet positions like Environmental Protection Agency administrator because those are often added or removed depending on the administration. A previous tracker by Brookings that was archived in May showed at least 15 departures in all cabinet levels since Trump took office.
