Women Leaving Top Roles in Trump Administration

The abrupt exit of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles adds her to a growing list of women who have departed top roles in President Donald Trump's administration since the year began. At the beginning of his second term, Trump boasted that he had more women in his cabinet than any Republican president in US history. There were eight women in top roles out of more than 20 such positions.

Eighteen months later, there are only three women left in top roles: Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, and Kelly Loeffler, who heads the Small Business Administration. Half of the women were pushed out over three months in the spring. The departures include Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Trump's top federal prosecutor Pam Bondi, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence.

Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said last spring that Trump only seems to have the capability to fire female secretaries. The congresswoman added that if you're a man in the Trump administration, it seems that they reward misconduct. Colorado State University professor Karrin Vasby Anderson said Trump hires and appoints women who he thinks will make him look good, and the minute they don't, they are gone.

Anderson said Trump continues to defend men in his administration who promote a particular kind of sexist MAGA masculinity. It's clear that Trump feels comfortable surrounding himself with that type of man. Trump has stood by men in his administration despite national outcry against chief of staff Stephen Miller's vocal support for the violent immigration policy and the taint of scandal dogging FBI Director Kash Patel.

In every case where a woman was sidelined, a man invariably replaced her. Todd Blanche took over Bondi's role at the Justice Department after working as Trump's personal lawyer. Wiles, the first woman to hold the strategic position of White House chief of staff, has just been replaced by hard-right ideologue Miller, a longtime Trump loyalist.

Trump appears to be struggling to replace one prominent female face of his presidency: Karoline Leavitt, the youngest White House press secretary ever who left her post at the end of August. The president jokingly called on UFC chief Dana White to take on the role instead, but the fighting executive demurred, saying he does not want to be in politics.

The departures of women from top roles in the Trump administration have raised questions about the president's treatment of female staff members. Trump's administration has been criticized for its handling of women's issues and its lack of diversity. The president's comments and actions have been seen as sexist and misogynistic by many, and his treatment of women in his administration has been called into question.

Key points

• Several women have departed top roles in President Donald Trump's administration since the year began.
• The departures include Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Trump's top federal prosecutor Pam Bondi, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence.
• Trump has been accused of sexism and misogyny in his treatment of women in his administration.