List of short-tenure Donald Trump political appointments

See also: Cabinet of Donald Trump and Political appointments by Donald Trump

This is a list of notably short political appointments by Donald Trump , the 45th president of the United States.

The turnover rate in the Trump administration has been noted by various publications. ^{[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]} Several Trump appointees, including Michael Flynn, Reince Priebus, Anthony Scaramucci, and Tom Price, have among the shortest service tenures in the history of their respective offices. ^{[lower-alpha 1]}

This list excludes political appointees, White House staff and other officials of the federal government from previous administrations who left or were dismissed from their positions under Trump (such as James Comey or Sally Yates).

List

Portrait	Name	Office	Took office	Left office	Tenure	Preceded by	Succeeded by	Notes
	Steve Bannon	Senior Counselor to the President	January 20, 2017	August 18, 2017	210 days (6 months, 29 days)	John Podesta	Kellyanne Conway Dina Powell	Previously executive chairman of Breitbart News, a position he briefly resumed following his resignation August 18. [9] [10] [11]
		White House Chief Strategist				position established	vacant
	Michael Dubke	White House Communications Director	March 6, 2017	June 2, 2017	88 days (2 months, 27 days)	Sean Spicer (acting)	Sean Spicer (acting)	Previously a Republican political strategist. Submitted his resignation May 30, 2017. [12] [13] His tenure was the fourth-shortest in the office's history, excluding interim appointments.
	Brenda Fitzgerald	Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention	July 7, 2017	January 31, 2018	208 days (6 months, 24 days)	Anne Schuchat (acting)	Anne Schuchat (acting)	Previously commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health. [14] Resigned due to scrutiny of her financial holdings, which included stock in Japan Tobacco. [15] Her tenure was the shortest in the office's history, excluding interim appointments. [16]
	Michael Flynn	National Security Advisor	January 20, 2017	February 13, 2017	24 days	Susan Rice	H. R. McMaster	Previously a three-star general and director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Resigned after misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the nature and content of his communications with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. [17] [18] Later pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI. His tenure was the shortest in the office's history. [19] [20]
	Sebastian Gorka	Deputy Assistant to the President	January 20, 2017	August 25, 2017	217 days (7 months, 5 days)			Previously a military and intelligence analyst. Failed to obtain the security clearance necessary for work on national security issues. [21] [22] Resigned August 25, 2017. [22] [23]
	Derek Harvey	Member of the National Security Council	January 27, 2017	July 27, 2017	181 days (6 months)			Previously a United States Army colonel and a senior member of the Defense Intelligence Agency. Fired July 27, 2017. [24]
	K. T. McFarland	Deputy National Security Advisor	January 20, 2017	May 19, 2017	119 days (3 months, 29 days)	Avril Haines	Ricky L. Waddell	Previously a member of the National Security Council in the 1970s and a Republican Senate candidate. Reported not to be a good fit at the NSC, [25] [26] she resigned after less than four months. Trump nominated her to be Ambassador to Singapore, but her nomination stalled and was withdrawn. [27]
	Dina Powell	Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy	March 15, 2017	January 12, 2018	303 days (9 months, 28 days)	Position established	Nadia Schadlow [28]	Previously an Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel under George W. Bush. [29] Left the Trump administration in January 2018. [28]
	Tom Price	Secretary of Health and Human Services	February 10, 2017	September 29, 2017	231 days (7 months, 19 days)	Sylvia Mathews Burwell	Alex Azar	Previously U.S. Representative for Georgia's 6th congressional district . Resigned following scrutiny of his use of private charters and military aircraft for travel. [30] [31] [32] His tenure was the shortest in the office's history. [32]
	Reince Priebus	White House Chief of Staff	January 20, 2017	July 31, 2017	192 days (6 months, 11 days)	Denis McDonough	John F. Kelly	Previously chairman of the Republican National Committee. Submitted his resignation July 27, 2017. His tenure was the shortest in the office's history, excluding interim appointments. [33]
	Scott Pruitt	Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency	February 17, 2017	July 6, 2018	504 days (1 year, 4 months, 19 days)	Gina McCarthy	Andrew R. Wheeler	Previously Oklahoma Attorney General and a state senator. A self-described "leading advocate against the EPA's activist agenda," [34] Pruitt rejects the scientific consensus that human-caused carbon dioxide emissions are a primary contributor to climate change. [35] His tenure was marked by controversy and at least a dozen [36] federal inquiries into his spending and management habits. Announced his resignation July 5. [37] [38] [39] His tenure was the second-shortest in the office's history, excluding interim appointments. [lower-alpha 2]
	David Shulkin	Secretary of Veterans Affairs	February 14, 2017	March 28, 2018	407 days (1 year, 1 month, 14 days)	Bob McDonald	Robert Wilkie (acting)	Previously a physician and later Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health. Confirmed unanimously, but clashed with staffers and attracted scrutiny of his travel expenses. Fired March 28, 2018. [40] His tenure was the shortest in the office's history, excluding interim appointments.
	George Sifakis	Director of the Office of Public Liaison	March 6, 2017	September 25, 2017	203 days (6 months, 19 days)	Valerie Jarrett [lower-alpha 3]	Johnny DeStefano	Left after less than seven months. [41]
	Anthony Scaramucci	White House Communications Director	July 21, 2017	July 31, 2017	10 days	Sean Spicer	Hope Hicks	Previously designated director of the White House Office of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs but did not assume office due to pending United States Office of Government Ethics investigation. [42] Fired July 31, 2017. [43] [44] [45] [46] His tenure was the shortest in the office's history, breaking the former record held by Jack Koehler. [47]
	Sean Spicer	White House Press Secretary	January 20, 2017	July 21, 2017	182 days (6 months, 1 day)	Josh Earnest	Sarah Huckabee Sanders	Previously acting White House Communications Director and a Republican Party strategist. Announced his resignation July 21, 2017, although he remained at the White House in an unspecified capacity until August 31. [48] [49] His tenure was the sixth-shortest in the office's history. [lower-alpha 4] [50]
	Rex Tillerson	United States Secretary of State	February 1, 2017	March 13, 2018 [lower-alpha 5]	405 days (1 year, 1 month, 12 days)	John Kerry	John Sullivan (acting)	Previously CEO of ExxonMobil. Fired March 13, 2018. [53] His tenure was the fifteenth-shortest in the office's 228-year history, and the third-shortest since World War II. [lower-alpha 6] Tillerson is the only Secretary of State since at least 1945 to have been fired. [54]
	Katie Walsh	White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Implementation	January 20, 2017	March 30, 2017	69 days (2 months, 10 days)	Kristie Canegallo	vacant	Previously a deputy finance director in several Republican Party organizations. [55] Resigned after less than three months. [56]

See also

• List of Trump administration dismissals and resignations
• List of Donald Trump nominees who have withdrawn

Notes

1. Excluding interim appointments.
2. Behind only Mike Leavitt, who stepped down 447 days into his term to succeed Tommy Thompson as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
3. as Director of the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs.
4. Excluding interim appointments. Also excludes James Brady, who was permanently disabled by a gunshot wound 69 days into his tenure, and George Stephanopoulos, who briefed the press during his tenure as Communications Director though the title formally belonged to Dee Dee Myers.
5. Formally retained the title until March 31, though his duties were carried out by successor John Sullivan. ^{[51] [52]}
6. Excluding interim appointments. Behind Edmund Muskie and Lawrence Eagleburger.

References

1. Kanetkar, Riddhima (February 1, 2018). "Brenda Fitzgerald Joins Long List Of Short-Serving Trump Administration Officials". International Business Times . Retrieved August 18, 2017.
2. Keith, Tamara (January 19, 2018). "Turnover In Trump's White House Is 'Record-Setting,' And It Isn't Even Close". NPR .
3. Bach, Natasha (December 28, 2017). "Trump Staff Turnover Hits 34%—a First Year Presidential Record". Fortune .
4. Stokols, Eli (December 28, 2017). "Trump White House Saw Record Number of First-Year Staff Departures". Wall Street Journal .
5. Chris Cillizza (March 23, 2018). "Donald Trump just totally overhauled his White House. In 16 days". CNN. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
6. Jen Kirby; Emily Stewart (March 23, 2018). "H.R. McMaster joins the very long list of high-profile White House departures". Vox. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
7. Lauren Leatherby (March 31, 2018). "Here Are All the Officials Who Have Left the Trump White House". Bloomberg. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
8. Denise Lu; Karen Yourish (March 22, 2018). "Turnover at a Constant Clip: The Trump Administration's Major Departures". The New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
9. Haberman, Maggie (August 18, 2017). "Trump Tells Aides He Has Decided to Remove Stephen Bannon". New York Times . Retrieved August 18, 2017.
10. Collins, Kaitlan; Diamond, Jeremy; Landers, Elizabeth (August 18, 2017). "Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon fired". CNN . Retrieved August 18, 2017.
11. Parker, Ashley; Rucker, Philip; Costa, Robert; Paletta, Damian (August 18, 2017). "Trump gets rid of White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon". Washington Post . Retrieved August 18, 2017.
12. "White House PR chief resigns". May 30, 2017. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
13. Rucker, Philip (May 30, 2017). "Dubke resigns as White House communications director". Washington Post. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
14. "Brenda Fitzgerald, M.D. Commissioner". Georgia Department of Public Health. September 20, 2013. Archived from the original on October 30, 2013.
15. Hellmann, Jessie (January 31, 2018). "CDC head resigns after report she traded tobacco stocks". The Hill. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
16. "Past CDC Directors/Administrators". Office of Enterprise Communication. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). February 19, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
17. Greg Miller, Adam Entous and Ellen Nakashima, National security adviser Flynn discussed sanctions with Russian ambassador, despite denials, officials say, Washington Post (February 9, 2017).
18. Pramuk, Jacob (February 16, 2016). "Trump: I fired Flynn because of what he told Pence". CNBC .
19. "On Michael Flynn's Tenure as National Security Advisor". The Quantitative Peace. February 14, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2017.
20. Derek Hawkins, Flynn sets record with only 24 days as national security advisor. The average tenure is about 2.6 years., Washington Post (February 14, 2017).
21. "White House taps billionaire to head intelligence review". Fox News. February 16, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2017.
22. "Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka expected to leave White House, official says". Los Angeles Times . May 1, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
23. Manchester, Julia (August 25, 2017). "Gorka resigns from White House". The Hill.
24. "McMaster Fires Iran Hawk From NSC". Foreign Policy. July 27, 2017. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
25. "McFarland to Exit White House as McMaster Consolidates Power". Bloomberg. April 9, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
26. Charlie Savage (April 9, 2017). "K.T. McFarland, Deputy National Security Adviser, Is Expected to Leave Post". The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
27. Raju, Manu; Herb, Jeremy (December 5, 2017). "Democrats place hold on McFarland nomination". CNN . Retrieved December 5, 2017.
28. "McMaster makes his pick to replace Powell on the NSC". Politico. January 21, 2018.
29. Gerhart, Ann (January 11, 2005). "Dina Powell, the West Wing's Hire Power". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. pp. C1. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
30. Baker, Peter; Thrush, Glenn; Haberman, Maggie (September 29, 2017). "Health Secretary Tom Price Resigns After Drawing Ire for Chartered Flights". The New York Times . New York. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
31. Pradhan, Rachana; Diamond, Dan. "Price took military jets to Europe, Asia for over $500K". POLITICO. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
32. Producer, Kevin Liptak, CNN White House. "Price out as HHS secretary after private plane scandal". CNN. Retrieved September 29, 2017.{{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
33. Grace, Hauck; Stafford, Dylan; Struyk, Ryan (July 28, 2017). "Reince Priebus, shortest-serving chief of staff in White House history". CNN . Retrieved July 28, 2017.
34. "Brief biography of Attorney General Scott Pruitt". Oklahoma Office of the Attorney General E. Scott Pruitt. Archived from the original on January 8, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2017.
35. Jay Michaelson (December 29, 2017). "The Ten Worst Things Scott Pruitt's EPA Has Already Done". The Daily Beast . Retrieved May 22, 2018.
36. Lisa Friedman (April 18, 2018). "13 Reasons Scott Pruitt Lost His Job". The New York Times . Retrieved July 7, 2018.
37. Scott Pruitt resigns as EPA head, Boston Globe , July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
38. Jeremy Diamond; Eli Watkins; Juana Summers. "EPA chief Scott Pruitt resigns amid ethics scandals". CNN. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
39. "Scott Pruitt's full resignation letter to President Trump". Fox News. July 5, 2018. Retrieved July 5, 2018.
40. "VA Secretary Shulkin out after months of struggle". Politico. August 18, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2018.
41. "Senior White House aide departing". Politico. August 18, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
42. Pressler, Jessica (January 23, 2017). "Long on Trump: Wall Streeters like Anthony Scaramucci bet heavy on the would-be president back when that seemed like a pretty dumb investment. Bonus time!". New York . Archived from the original on March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 6, 2017.
43. "Trump Removes Anthony Scaramucci From Communications Director Role". The New York Times. July 31, 2017. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
44. Pramuk, Jacob (July 31, 2017). "Trump removes Anthony Scaramucci from communications director role". CNBC . Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
45. Jackson, Hallie (August 1, 2017). "What Really Happened to Anthony Scaramucci". NBC News. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
46. Merica, Dan; Zeleny, Jeff; Acosta, Jim (July 31, 2017). "Anthony Scaramucci out as White House communications director". CNN. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
47. Santos, Amanda Proença (July 31, 2017). "Scaramucci Sets New Record for Shortest Term as Communications Director". NBC News. Archived from the original on August 1, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2017.
48. "Sean Spicer resigns as White House press secretary". CBS News. July 21, 2017.
49. Glenn Thrush (July 21, 2017). Sean Spicer Resigns as White House Press Secretary. The New York Times.
50. "Sean Spicer's tenure as White House press secretary was historically short". Washington Post . July 21, 2017.
51. Merica, Dan (March 13, 2018). "Trump fires Tillerson, taps Pompeo as next secretary of state – CNNPolitics". Cnn.com. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
52. "Deputy Secretary of State". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
53. "Trump sacks Rex Tillerson as state secretary". BBC News. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
54. Miller, Aaron David. "Longtime diplomat: Tillerson's public firing makes my head explode". CNN. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
55. Raasch, Chuck (January 6, 2017). "St. Louis native Katie Walsh will be deputy chief of staff in Trump White House". St. Louis Post-Dispatch .
56. Goldmacher, Shane; Nussbaum, Matthew; Palmeri, Tara; Isenstadt, Alex (March 30, 2017). "Senior White House aide Katie Walsh moving to pro-Trump political group". Politico. Retrieved March 30, 2017.