Sep 23, 2019 - Politics & Policy

Trump's White House has had record-breaking turnover

Fadel Allassan

White House staff members watch as the president delivers a speech in the Rose Garden. — Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

President Trump's White House has the highest turnover rate in top-level positions of any administration in history, according to a new study by the Brookings Institution.

Why it matters: Turnover can lead to inefficiency on several fronts, Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, the study's author, wrote last year. For every person that leaves, a replacement needs to be hired and caught up to speed. Replacements also tend to bring their own deputies and trusted staff, which leads to a domino effect of new hires.

By the numbers: Trump's administration had turnover in 78% of its 65 most influential non-Cabinet-level positions, referred to in the report as "the A Team." (Tenpas described the methodology for determining the A Team's members.)

51 of those 65 positions have had turnover.
31% of those positions have turned over more than once.

The big picture: Within the Cabinet, 9 of the 15 positions have had turnover. That's more than any of the last 5 presidents.

The only president to come close was George H.W. Bush with 8 Cabinet changes, but that was over his entire 4-year term.

Between the lines: The turnover has been coupled with a lack of people in leadership positions across the executive branch.

Trump has not nominated people to fill 143 positions that need Senate confirmation, according to an online tracker by The Washington Post and Partnership for Public Service.

The bottom line: Tenpas told NBC News that the turnover situation can lead to "upheaval and chaos" within the administration, which can hinder the government's ability to operate successfully.

Go deeper: Every high-profile Trump administration departure

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Trump's White House has had record-breaking turnover

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