Thirty-seven administration officials who've resigned or been fired under Trump

by Philip Bump February 8 Email the author

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Casualties of the Trump administration

President Trump set a record for White House staff turnover in the first year. Here's an ongoing list of staff who have quit or been fired under Trump. (Joyce Koh/Washington Post)

This article has been updated.
The photograph above was taken just over six months ago. At the time, four of the five people pictured worked for the White House; only former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, center, didn’t. In the six months since, the other four have resigned or been fired, having served in the White House for a combined 971 days. That includes former communications director Anthony Scaramucci’s 11 days before being ousted by Chief of Staff John F. Kelly. It also includes the 385 days put in by Rob Porter, who resigned from his position as staff secretary this week after it was revealed that his two ex-wives accused him of domestic abuse.
President Trump’s administration has seen more turnover than “The Apprentice.” Quite literally, in fact. Trump’s television show would lose 15 people a season; Trump’s administration has lost at least 37 in just over a year. Two-and-a-half seasons of drama, packed into just over 12 months.
We compiled a list of those who had left prominent positions with the administration after being fired (like Scaramucci), being forced to resign under pressure (like Porter) or who resigned on their own terms. We’d originally included in that latter group once-and-again reality television star Omarosa Manigault, whose departure from the White House was full of drama but, according to the public positions of both sides at the time of her departure, amicable.
Then she bad-mouthed Trump on TV.

The shortest tenure was Scaramucci’s, though deputy attorney general Sally Yates, who was inherited by Trump when he was inaugurated, served the same amount of time under Trump. Porter had served since the outset of Trump’s presidency, making him among the longest-serving people to leave.

In case the last names above aren’t immediately recognizable (which many will not be), we’ve broken out individuals by job title within the administration and the apparent reason for their departure.

Fired

• Sally Yates. Deputy attorney general. Days with administration: 11. Refused to enforce Trump’s entry ban.
• Preet Bharara. U.S. attorney. Days with administration: 51. Part of purge of U.S. attorneys.
• James B. Comey. FBI director. Days with administration: 110. Allegedly pressured by Trump to scale down investigations.
• Rich Higgins. Director, NSC. Days with administration: 176. Fired after writing a conspiracy-filled memo.
• Derek Harvey. Senior director, NSC. Days with administration: 182. Fired following power shift under national security adviser H.R. McMaster.
• Anthony Scaramucci. Communications director. Days with administration: 11. Fired by Kelly.

Resigned under pressure

• Michael Flynn. National security adviser. Days with administration: 23. Ostensibly fired for having misled Vice President Pence about his conversations with the Russian ambassador.
• Katie Walsh. Deputy chief of staff. Days with administration: 68. Moved out of administration to work for a pro-Trump PAC.
• K.T. McFarland. Deputy national security adviser. Days with administration: 118. Pushed out following power shift under McMaster.
• Tera Dahl. Deputy chief of staff, NSC. Days with administration: 166. Reassigned following power shift under McMaster.
• Michael Short. Assistant press secretary. Days with administration: 185. Scaramucci told media that Short would be fired.
• Reince Priebus. Chief of staff. Days with administration: 188. Resigned in favor of Kelly.
• Ezra Cohen-Watnick. Senior director, NSC. Days with administration: 188. Resigned following power shift under McMaster.
• Stephen K. Bannon. Chief strategist. Days with administration: 209. Bannon left after giving a negative interview to American Prospect.
• Sebastian Gorka. Deputy assistant. Days with administration: 211. Butted heads with Kelly.
• William Bradford. Director, Energy. Days with administration: About 120. Past racist comments were made public.
• Tom Price. Director of Health and Human Services. Days with administration: 232. Under fire for taking expensive charter flights.
• Jamie Johnson. Director, DHS. Days with administration: About 230. Past racist comments were made public.
• Carl Higbie. Chief of external affairs, Corporation for National and Community Service. Days with administration: 153. Past racist comments were made public.
• Omarosa Manigault. Director of communications, Office of Public Liaison. Days with administration: 364. Resigned to “pursue other opportunities.” Now stars on CBS’s “Big Brother.”
• Taylor Weyeneth. Deputy chief of staff, Office of Drug Control Policy. Days with administration: About 340. Questions about experience and details on résumé.
• Rob Porter. Staff secretary. Days with administration: 385. Allegations of spousal abuse became public.

Resigned

• Michael Dubke. Communications director. Days with administration: 89. Personal reasons.
• Walter Shaub. Director of Office of Government Ethics. Days with administration: 181. Concern over ethics rules.
• Mark Corallo. Legal team spokesman. Days with administration: 59. Apparently concerned about handling of Trump Tower story.
• Sean Spicer. Press secretary. Days with administration: 181. Uncomfortable with hiring of Scaramucci.
• Elizabeth Southerland. Director, EPA. Days with administration: 193. Disagreement with direction of department.
• Carl Icahn. Special adviser. Days with administration: 211. Resigned in advance of an article about conflicts of interest.
• George Sifakis. Public liaison director. Days with administration: 204. Sifakis was an ally of Priebus.
• Maliz Beams. Counselor, State. Days with administration: 97. Reported differences with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
• Elizabeth Shackelford. Political officer, State. Days with administration: 323. Disagreement with direction of department.
• Paul Winfree. Deputy director. Days with administration: 330. Returning to Heritage Foundation.
• Dina Powell. Deputy national security adviser. Days with administration: 304. Personal reasons.
• Jeremy Katz. Deputy director, NEC. Days with administration: About 340. Personal reasons.
• Thomas Shannon. Under secretary of state for political affairs. Days with administration: 385 and counting. (Resignation announced but not yet in force.) Personal reasons.
• John Feeley. Ambassador to Panama. Days with administration: 385 and counting. Disagreement with administration.
• Rick Dearborn. Deputy chief of staff. Days with administration: 383 and counting. Joining private sector.

There hasn’t been a recent administration that’s seen so much turnover particularly among members of the senior White House staff. (Nor, it’s safe to say, have there been so many appointees who were fired after past racist comments were made public.)
The good news for the administration is that many of the recent departures have been legitimately amicable ones, people leaving to return to the private sector. It’s still turnover, but it seems less turbulent than past clusters of resignations.