President Trump oversaw a remarkable and sustained amount of turnover during his four years in power. The violent Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol incited by the President triggered a final wave of resignations from across the administration with less than two weeks left in Trump’s term. Several high-profile officials announced their departure, including Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and Melania Trump’s chief of staff.
Resignations since attack on Capitol
Cabinet and other positions requiring Senate confirmation
| Name | Title | Announced |
|---|---|---|
| Chad Wolf | Acting homeland security secretary and undersecretary for strategy, policy, and plans | Jan. 11 |
| Betsy DeVos | Education secretary | Jan. 7 |
| Hunter Kurtz | Assistant secretary for public and Indian housing, HUD | Jan. 7 |
| Elaine Chao | Transportation secretary | Jan. 7 |
| Tyler Goodspeed | Acting chair, W.H. Council of Economic Advisors | Jan. 7 |
| John Costello | Deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and security, Commerce Dept. | Jan. 7 |
| Ryan Tully | Senior director for European and Russian affairs, NSC | Jan. 7 |
| Mick Mulvaney | Special envoy to N. Ireland | Jan. 7 |
| Matt Pottinger | Deputy nat. security adviser | Jan. 6 |
| Stephanie Grisham | First lady's chief of staff | Jan. 6 |
| Sarah Matthews | W.H. deputy press secretary | Jan. 6 |
| Anna Cristina Niceta | W.H. social secretary | Jan. 6 |
But even before the attack on the Capitol, top members of the administration resigned or were fired at a relentless rate. Below are all the notable departures that have taken place since Trump’s inauguration, in reverse chronological order. Cabinet and other positions requiring Senate confirmation are outlined in orange; other appointments are in gray. Click each person’s name to learn more about the circumstances of their departure.
Several top officials left the Department of Homeland Security in April as Trump sought a more hard-line approach to the growing migrant crisis at the southern border. Many of those who departed, including Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Secret Service Director Tex Alles, were appointed at the urging of then-White House chief of staff John Kelly.
As part of a broad shake-up of his administration, several key officials left in March. The president fired his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, in a tweet and replaced economic adviser Gary Cohn, who quit over disagreements on trade. Veterans Affairs head David Shulkin also left following disagreements with his senior staff over privatizing veterans care.
In the span of 10 days in late July, three notable West Wing staffers left. Sean Spicer resigned because he disagreed with the hiring of Anthony Scaramucci as communications director. Reince Priebus resigned. Scaramucci (who was on the job for only 10 days) was fired July 31.
Trump’s decision to fire James B. Comey in May 2017 led to intense criticism from both sides of the aisle. The administration contended that Comey was let go for mishandling the investigation of Clinton’s email during the election, not for his role in investigating the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia. The termination is part of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation.
Obama holdovers, such as White House chief usher Angella Reid fired in May 2017, are not included. Neither are figures like Mercedes Schlapp, who left a role in the Trump administration to join the Trump campaign as his reelection bid staffed up.
Laris Karklis, Tim Meko and Ashlyn Still contributed to this report.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention required Senate confirmation.
About this story
Officials are placed on the date of the announcement of their departure. Some remained in their post after that date.
The Post chose the most high-profile White House and Senate-confirmed departures to include on this page. An initial list of White House departures was compiled by Dr. Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a nonresident senior fellow for governance studies at the Brookings Institution, working with the White House Transition Project. Her full report on White House turnover is here.
Others on the list come from staff and news reports.
Originally published March 16, 2018.
Photos from AP, Reuters, AFP, Getty Images and Washington Post staff.
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