Premium
White House Staff Turnover in Year One of the Trump Administration: Context, Consequences, and Implications for Governing 1
Author(s) -
Tenpas Kathryn Dunn
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
presidential studies quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.337
H-Index - 5
eISSN - 1741-5705
pISSN - 0360-4918
DOI - 10.1111/psq.12479
Subject(s) - white (mutation) , loyalty , house staff , context (archaeology) , administration (probate law) , corporate governance , house of representatives , turnover , political science , public administration , politics , law , history , management , medicine , economics , biochemistry , chemistry , archaeology , family medicine , gene
Comparing staff turnover in the first year of the Trump White House to that of the five immediate predecessors, I find Trump's turnover is record setting, more than triple that of Obama's and double that of Reagan's. I argue that Trump has experienced such high turnover because he has valued loyalty over qualifications and suffered from a White House that has functioned in a chaotic manner. Both features have made it difficult to retain top‐level staff and contributed to the governance difficulties he has encountered. If history is any guide, staff recruitment and retention during Trump's second year could prove challenging as well.