Many political appointees of Donald Trump, the 45th and 47th president of the United States, resigned or were dismissed during Trump's first term. Multiple publications have called attention to the record-setting turnover rate in the first year of that term. Several Trump appointees, including National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price have had the shortest service tenures in the history of their respective offices.
Trump articulated the reasons for the break in custom, saying: "We have acting people. The reason they are acting is because I'm seeing how I like them, and I'm liking a lot of them very, very much. There are people who have done a bad job, and I let them go. If you call that turmoil, I don't call that turmoil. I say that is being smart. That's what we do."
For comprehensiveness, the list below includes, in addition to dismissals and resignations, routine job changes such as promotions (e.g., Gina Haspel from CIA Deputy Director to Director), officials moving to a comparable position (e.g., John F. Kelly from Secretary of Homeland Security to Chief of Staff), and acting or temporary officials being replaced by permanent ones. The list does not include many lower-level positions, however, such as that of executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, Matthew Doherty, whom Trump dismissed in November 2019, without a replacement to lead the council that was created in 1987. But some less prominent officials are listed because their departure was newsworthy.
Officials who resigned in the aftermath of the January 6 United States Capitol attack, well into the then-underway presidential transition of Trump's successor Joe Biden, when their term would have ended soon anyway, are also listed on this page.
Color key Color key:
Denotes appointees serving in an acting capacity.
Denotes appointees to an office which has since been abolished
Executive Office of the President
Office of the Vice President
Department of Agriculture
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Education
Department of Energy
Department of Health and Human Services
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Housing and Urban Development
Department of the Interior
Department of Justice
Department of Labor
Department of State
Department of Transportation
Department of the Treasury
Department of Veterans Affairs Office Name Took office Left office NotesSecretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Snyder January 20, 2017 February 14, 2017 David Shulkin February 14, 2017 March 28, 2018On March 28, 2018, Trump announced on Twitter that Shulkin had been fired. Following his dismissal, controversy erupted about efforts by the White House to privatize VA healthcare and Shulkin's allegedly inappropriate taxpayer-funded foreign trips. Robert Wilkie March 28, 2018 May 29, 2018 Peter O'Rourke May 29, 2018 July 30, 2018 Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Gina Farrisee January 20, 2017 February 25, 2017 Scott Blackburn February 26, 2017 August 9, 2017 Thomas G. Bowman August 10, 2017 June 15, 2018 Retired. James Byrne September 16, 2019 February 3, 2020 General Counsel of Veterans Affairs August 8, 2017 September 16, 2019 Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Health) Poonam AlaighMay 2017 September 25, 2017 Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Human Resources and Administration) Peter Shelby February 24, 2018 Summer 2018 Retired.Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Operations, Security and Preparedness) Donald P. Loren
Intelligence community Office Name Took office Left office NotesDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency Meroe Park January 20, 2017 January 23, 2017 Mike Pompeo January 23, 2017 April 26, 2018 Became Secretary of State.Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel February 2, 2017 May 21, 2018 Became Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats March 16, 2017 August 15, 2019 Joseph Maguire August 16, 2019 February 21, 2020 Director of the National Counterterrorism Center December 27, 2018 August 16, 2019 Russell Travers December 24, 2017 December 27, 2018 August 16, 2019 March 18, 2020 Deputy Director of the National Counterterrorism Center November 13, 2017 March 18, 2020Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell February 20, 2020 May 26, 2020 Grenell was also Ambassador to Germany.Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Susan M. Gordon September 5, 2017 August 15, 2019 Gordon leaving along with Coats cleared the way for Trump to appoint Maguire as acting DNI. Andrew P. Hallman October 30, 2019 February 21, 2020 Chief Operating Officer of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Deirdre Walsh February 2018 May 8, 2020 General Counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Jason Klitenic August 6, 2018 March 2020 Inspector General of the Intelligence Community Michael Atkinson May 17, 2018 April 2020 Fired by Trump after raising concerns from a whistleblower that led to Trump's impeachment
Independent agencies Office Name Took office Left office NotesChairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission Jay Clayton May 4, 2017 December 31, 2020 Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission J. Christopher Giancarlo August 3, 2017 April 13, 2019 Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Richard Cordray January 4, 2012 November 24, 2017 After President Trump was inaugurated, he and Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney worked to undermine Cordray and the CFPB. Mick Mulvaney November 25, 2017 December 11, 2018Deputy Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau David Silberman January 11, 2016 November 24, 2017 Leandra English November 24, 2017 July 9, 2018 Chief of External Affairs for the Corporation for National and Community Service Carl Higbie August 2017 January 19, 2018 Resigned in January 2018 after racist, sexist, anti-Muslim and anti-LGBT comments, and comments about fellow veterans with PTSD, came to light.Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt February 17, 2017 July 9, 2018 Resignation tendered July 5, to be effective Friday, July 6, when the Deputy Administrator became Acting Administrator.Deputy Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Andrew R. Wheeler April 20, 2018 February 28, 2019 Became EPA Administrator.Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for Air and Radiation William Wehrum November 20, 2017 June 30, 2019General Counsel of the Environmental Protection Agency Matthew Leopold January 8, 2018 October 5, 2020 Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission Mignon Clyburn August 3, 2009 June 2018 Retired.Chairman of the National Labor Relations Board Philip A. Miscimarra January 23, 2017 April 23, 2017 April 24, 2017 December 16, 2017Member of the National Mediation Board Linda Puchala November 2, 2017 July 1, 2018 Director of the Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub January 9, 2013 July 19, 2017 Shaub was outspoken with concerns about the Trump Administration during the transition period and after Trump's inauguration. Shaub resigned six months before the end of his term, saying that ethics rules should be tighter.Director of the Office of Personnel Management Jeff Tien Han Pon March 9, 2018 October 5, 2018 Margaret Weichert October 5, 2018 September 16, 2019 Dale Cabaniss September 16, 2019 March 17, 2020 President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation Ray Washburne September 5, 2017 March 1, 2019Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Mel Watt January 6, 2014 January 6, 2019Administrator of the Small Business Administration Joseph Loddo January 20, 2017 February 14, 2017 Linda McMahon February 14, 2017 April 12, 2019 In March 2019, the former WWE executive announced she was leaving the SBA to work for the America First Action SuperPAC. Chris Pilkerton April 13, 2019 January 13, 2020 Pilkerton was also the General Counsel of the SBA from June 2017 to March 2020.Deputy Administrator of the Small Business Administration Althea Coetzee August 3, 2017 April 15, 2018 Commissioner of the Federal Election Commission Ann M. Ravel October 25, 2013 March 1, 2017 Lee E. Goodman October 22, 2013 February 16, 2018 Matthew S. Petersen June 24, 2008 August 31, 2019 Caroline C. Hunter June 24, 2008 July 3, 2020 United States Postmaster General Megan Brennan February 1, 2015 June 15, 2020 Deputy United States Postmaster General Ronald Stroman March 2011 June 1, 2020 Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development Mark Green August 7, 2017 April 10, 2020 Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development Bonnie Glick January 2019 November 6, 2020 Terminated without cause by the Trump Administration hours before acting Administrator John Barsa reached the maximum amount of time allowed to serve in that position without Senate confirmation under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.Deputy White House Liaison of the United States Agency for International Development Merritt Corrigan June 2020 August 3, 2020 Forced out after a history of anti-LGBTQ comments soon after starting in the role.NASA Associate Administrator(Human Exploration and Operations) William Gerstenmaier August 12, 2005 July 10, 2019 Ken Bowersox July 10, 2019 October 16, 2019 Douglas L. Loverro October 16, 2019 May 19, 2020 Bowersox returned as Acting Associate Administrator.Director of the Voice of America Amanda Bennett March 2016 June 15, 2020 Director of Middle East Broadcasting Networks Alberto Fernandez July 2017 June 17, 2020 Fired by Michael Pack, the new CEO of the U.S. Agency for Global MediaPresident of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Jamie Fly August 1, 2019President of Radio Free Asia Bay Fang November 20, 2019Chairman of Tennessee Valley Authority James "Skip" Thompson May 2019 August 3, 2020 Fired after TVA announced that 200 American workers would be replaced with cheaper foreign workers. That decision was reversed on August 6.
Banks Office Name Took office Left office NotesGovernor of the African Development Bank Geoffrey Okamoto March 2018 Governor of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
In the aftermath of the 2021 Capitol attack
Dozens of Trump administration officeholders resigned in reaction to the Capitol storming, even though their terms in office would expire fourteen days later with the inauguration of President Biden. Some senior officials, however, decided against resigning in order to ensure an orderly transition of power to the incoming Biden administration.