Trump’s second-term confirmed ranks are thinning faster, report says

Twenty-seven Senate-confirmed officials have left Cabinet department jobs since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, a new analysis by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service found.

That pace is already well beyond Trump’s first term, when 11 Senate-confirmed Cabinet department officials exited over four years under the same counting method, according to the group.

The nonprofit’s tally covers Senate-confirmed officials in Cabinet departments who were nominated during Trump’s second term. It does not count officials nominated by earlier administrations, or U.S. attorneys, U.S. marshals and ambassadors.

Using those same limits, the Partnership for Public Service found one such departure during President Joe Biden’s administration, seven during President Barack Obama’s second term and five during President George W. Bush’s second term.

Some left for new jobs, others were pushed out

The departures do not all fit one pattern. Some officials left one Senate-confirmed post for another government job requiring confirmation, the nonprofit noted.

Billy Long, who served as IRS commissioner, was removed by Trump last year and was confirmed this year as ambassador to Iceland, according to NBC News.

Other exits followed firings or pressure campaigns. NBC News reported that Navy Secretary John Phelan was fired in April during internal tensions at the Defense Department.

Several other senior Defense Department figures have also been removed, NBC News reported, including Air Force Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Navy Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield as the U.S. military representative to NATO’s military committee, and Joint Chiefs Chairman CQ Brown Jr. Those three were not included in the Partnership for Public Service count because they were nominated before Trump’s second term.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Director Susan Monarez was fired by the Trump administration after refusing to resign under pressure, NBC News reported. Monarez alleged that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wanted her removed for political reasons.

High-profile Cabinet-level exits

The turnover has reached the top tier of government. NBC News reported departures by Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, Pam Bondi as attorney general, Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary and Lori Chavez-DeRemer as labor secretary.

Gabbard resigned after her husband was diagnosed with cancer, while Bondi and Noem were fired, according to NBC News. Chavez-DeRemer resigned while the Labor Department’s inspector general was investigating potential misconduct, NBC News reported.

Some resignations came with little public explanation. Gail Slater, who led the Justice Department’s antitrust division, announced in February that she was leaving, writing that she did so with “great sadness and abiding hope.”

Leslie Beyer, who held a senior Interior Department role, left only months after Senate confirmation, according to NBC News. Marty Makary resigned as Food and Drug Administration commissioner in May; NBC News previously reported that a person close to HHS leadership said his resignation followed the FDA’s authorization of fruit-flavored vapes for adults, which Makary opposed.

Another turnover tracker shows a mixed picture

A separate Brookings Institution analysis found heavy first-year churn among influential Trump administration decision-makers, including roles that do not necessarily require Senate confirmation.

Brookings found 31% turnover among those decision-makers in the first year of Trump’s second term, compared with 8% in Biden’s first year and 9% in Obama’s first year. In the second year, Brookings found Trump at 7% so far, compared with 35% for Biden and 15% for Obama.

Trump’s first administration also saw prominent departures, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, NBC News noted. Anthony Scaramucci, who did not require Senate confirmation, lasted six days as White House communications director during that term.

This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.