The Turnover at the Top of the Trump Administration
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With the resignation of Kirstjen Nielsen, President Trump could become the first president going back to at least Ronald Reagan to have three different people serve as the cabinet secretary for a single agency in his first three years, according to Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a scholar at the Brookings Institution.
Mr. Trump “has the record for White House staff turnover, for cabinet turnover and now for the highest turnover within a single department,” said Ms. Tenpas,
Three of Mr. Trump’s cabinet agencies are now led by “acting” secretaries rather than by people who were confirmed by the Senate. The White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, also serves in an acting capacity and Linda E. McMahon, the administrator of the Small Business Administration, will leave her post this week.
Some roles have been more volatile than others. For example, there have been five White House communications chiefs, with stints ranging 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.
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