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Trump set a record for White House staff turnover in the first year
During it's first year, the Trump administration was drowning in confusion and dysfunction. An unusual number of his Tier I staff lacked federal government experience. Trump has no problem whatsoever designating scapegoats and throwing them under the bus. With his numerous broken promises and policy flip-flops, many staffers viewed their primary reason for joining the Trump administration vanish. Trumps tweets are like radioactive debris, landing on staffers by association. The Mueller Russia-collusion investigation has led to criminal indictments which has forced many officials working in the White House to "lawyer up". Trumps approval poll numbers are abysmal ... the lowest first year numbers of any US president. Like many (30) of the GOP with seats in Congress who see the writing on the wall and are bailing, staffers are taking their cue and getting out while the getting is good before their own professional reputations become irreparably tarnished.
There is only one truly safe appointment status ... nepotism. Trumps "administration children" are safe.
By Kathryn Dunn Tenpas
January 16, 2018
Former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, former Chief White House Strategist Stephen K. Bannon
and former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus are among the people no longer working in the White House.
Every new president loses top staff during the administration’s first year in office. Political scientists have long noted that the skills needed to campaign are strikingly different from those needed to govern. And adjusting to Washington, D.C., norms — and the press scrutiny that comes with presidential power — has a steep learning curve, especially for those without government experience. Compared to President Trump’s five predecessors, however, the Trump White House has seen a record level of staff turnover amid truly unusual circumstances. We can easily see several noteworthy trends. First, President Trump’s A Team turnover is significantly higher than any of his five predecessors. As of Jan. 12, 2018, 36 percent of the staff has left or changed positions, more than double the turnover in President Ronald Reagan’s first year and four times that in President Barack Obama’s.
Second, much of the Trump turnover can be found in Tier 1. Of these 12 highest-level positions, Trump lost six, including chief of staff (Reince Priebus), deputy chief of staff, (Katie Walsh), press secretary (Sean Spicer), director of public liaison (George Sifakis), national security adviser (Michael Flynn) and deputy national security adviser (KT McFarland). By contrast, Obama only lost one Tier 1 staff member: his White House counsel Gregory Craig. President George W. Bush did not lose any Tier 1 staff members during the first year. Third, turnover will likely increase in the months ahead. All five recent presidents saw a big bump in turnover during the second year in office, suggesting that Trump’s record level staff churn could grow even higher in 2018. That’s true in part because in the past, many top staff regarded their year of service as enough to move to more lucrative opportunities outside government.
During it's first year, the Trump administration was drowning in confusion and dysfunction. An unusual number of his Tier I staff lacked federal government experience. Trump has no problem whatsoever designating scapegoats and throwing them under the bus. With his numerous broken promises and policy flip-flops, many staffers viewed their primary reason for joining the Trump administration vanish. Trumps tweets are like radioactive debris, landing on staffers by association. The Mueller Russia-collusion investigation has led to criminal indictments which has forced many officials working in the White House to "lawyer up". Trumps approval poll numbers are abysmal ... the lowest first year numbers of any US president. Like many (30) of the GOP with seats in Congress who see the writing on the wall and are bailing, staffers are taking their cue and getting out while the getting is good before their own professional reputations become irreparably tarnished.
There is only one truly safe appointment status ... nepotism. Trumps "administration children" are safe.
