Joe Biden (D) has second-lowest Cabinet turnover among 21st century presidents


Joe Biden (D) has the second-lowest Cabinet turnover among presidents who have served since 2001. Four of Biden’s Cabinet secretaries and Cabinet-level appointees have resigned so far in his administration. George W. Bush (R) saw the lowest Cabinet turnover as of April 8 in the fourth year of his presidency, at three Cabinet-level resignations. Barack Obama (D) had eight Cabinet-level resignations, and Donald Trump (R) had eighteen.

These numbers include the 15 main Cabinet secretaries and other Cabinet-level positions like vice president and White House chief of staff. The number of Cabinet-level positions can vary from administration to administration. In addition to the main 15 Cabinet secretaries, there are 11 Cabinet-level positions in the Biden administration, there were nine in the Trump administration, eight in the Obama administration, and six in the Bush administration. See the chart below for resignations by type of Cabinet position.

Across all four administrations, Trump is the only president to have members of his Cabinet resign in the first year of his presidency. As of April in the fourth year of their presidencies, Biden had the most resignations in his third year (2), Trump had the most in his second year (8), and Bush had the most in his third year (2). Obama’s second and third years are tied for the most resignations during his administration at three each.

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