Who has left Trump's administration and orbit?

President Donald Trump's administration has been marked by a series of exits by high-ranking officials. Here are the most notable ones:

Resigned

Rick Perry

Secretary of Energy | Trump appointee

Perry said in a YouTube video in October that he planned to announce his resignation, without giving an exact date. Perry has found himself as one of the players in the growing impeachment controversy surrounding Trump’s pressure on Ukraine's president to investigate former vice president and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son. Read more

Resigned

Kevin McAleenan

Acting Director of Homeland Security | Trump appointee

McAleenan submitted his resignation to the White House in early October. A source familiar with McAleenan's thinking tells CNN that the acting secretary felt he had accomplished all he could given the political realities facing the administration. Read more

Fired537 days

John Bolton

National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer

Trump was irked by reports that he had faced internal pushback from Bolton over his decision to host leaders of the Taliban at Camp David. Trump announced Bolton's departure on Twitter. Bolton immediately disputed Trump's characterization in his own tweet. Read more

Resigned882 days

Dan Coats

Director of National Intelligence | Trump appointee

Coats stepped down on August 15. Trump announced the departure on Twitter in late July. Read more

Resigned813 days

Alexander Acosta

Secretary of Labor | Trump appointee

Acosta resigned after furor over his involvement as a then-US Attorney in a 2008 plea deal for the financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. There was new scrutiny of the plea deal after Epstein, a former friend of Trump's, was indicted on human trafficking charges in July of 2018. Read more

Resigned892 days

Sarah Sanders

Press Secretary | Trump White House staffer

Sanders leaves her position after a tumultuous tenure as the President's chief spokeswoman in which she largely redefined the position and essentially ended the practice of daily on-camera briefings with the press. Read more

Resigned488 days

Kirstjen Nielsen

Secretary of Homeland Security | Trump appointee

Nielsen, who has become a face of Trump's hardline immigration push, resigned. "Despite our progress in reforming homeland security for a new age, I have determined that it is the right time for me to step aside," she wrote in her resignation letter. Read more

Resigned689 days

Scott Gottlieb

FDA Commissioner | Trump appointee

An administration official familiar with the situation said the move has been in the works for several months. Gottlieb, known for his efforts against teen vaping, has been commuting weekly to Washington from his home in Connecticut and is leaving to spend more time with his family, the official said. Read more

Resigned246 days

Bill Shine

Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications | Trump White House staffer

Shine, a former Fox News executive, joined the White House in July 2018, the sixth person to fill or be tapped for the top communications role. He stepped down to join the Trump reelection campaign, press secretary Sarah Sanders announced in a statement. Read more

Resigned672 days

Ryan Zinke

Secretary of Interior | Trump appointee

The subject of multiple ethics investigations and a possible DOJ criminal probe for using his office for personal gain, Zinke resigned rather than be fired in an end-of-year Trump staff shakeup. Read more

Fired712 days

John Kelly

White House Chief of Staff | Trump White House staffer

Kelly began his tenure as Trump's secretary of homeland security, but he was moved to White House chief of staff to bring order to the White House. His relationship with Trump soured, however, and he was ultimately pushed out. Trump announced the move before finding a replacement for Kelly. Read more

Resigned711 days

James Mattis

Secretary of Defense | Trump appointee

One of the original generals in Trump's Cabinet and inner circle, Mattis resigned in protest to Trump's decision to remove US troops from Syria. Read more

Resigned706 days

Nikki Haley

US Ambassador to the UN | Trump appointee

Trump celebrated US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley Oct. 9 in the Oval Office as one of his more popular Cabinet members, in a surprise announcement, said she had resigned and would leave her post by the end of the year. Read more

Fired208 days

Mira Ricardel

Deputy National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer

A feud with the first lady's office may have cost the senior national security adviser her job after she sparred with East Wing staff and other key members of the Trump administration. The dispute spilled into public view in extraordinary fashion when the first lady's office released a statement calling for Ricardel's ouster as reports surfaced that President Donald Trump would fire the official, deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel. She is expected to take another job in the administration. Read more

Fired639 days

Jeff Sessions

Attorney General | Trump appointee

Trump fired Attorney General Jeff Sessions November 7, one day after the midterm elections. Sessions' chief of staff Matthew Whitaker will take over as acting attorney general, the President said. Read more

Unknown636 days

Don McGahn

White House Counsel | Trump White House staffer

President Donald Trump said Aug. 29 that Don McGahn, who had been with the White House since the presidential transition would leave his job as White House counsel following Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation, which was made official Oct. 7. Read more

Resigned533 days

Joe Hagin

Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations | Trump White House staffer

Joe Hagin is the White House official who orchestrated logistics for the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. A veteran of every Republican administration since President Ronald Reagan, Hagin will return to the private sector. Read more

Resigned504 days

Scott Pruitt

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator | Trump appointee

An ethics cloud hung over Pruitt for months, as lawmakers from both parties, environmental groups and government watchdogs raised questions about his spending, housing arrangements, security team and raises for political appointees. All told, Pruitt left EPA having faced more than a dozen inquiries or reviews into his practices at the agency, including his first-class plane travel, a room that he rented from a lobbyist at $50 per night and the installation of a soundproof booth in his office. Read more

Resigned526 days

Tom Homan

Director of ICE | Trump appointee

The polarizing face of the administration's immigration enforcement, and a favorite of President Donald Trump himself, Tom Homan had announced in April he would be taking his long-delayed retirement. Homan has told the story of receiving the request to stay on as chief of ICE under Trump while celebrating at his going away party -- a retirement that was deferred for a year and a half. Read more

Resigned292 days

Ty Cobb

White House Special Counsel | Trump White House staffer

A source familiar with Cobb's departure said the former federal prosecutor, who joined Trump's legal team in July 2017, had been clashing with the President over Trump's combative posture with the special counsel's investigation. Read more

Fired409 days

Nadia Schadlow

Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategy | Trump White House staffer

Schadlow was a principal author of the President's National Security Strategy document. She was expected to resign or be pushed out after President Donald Trump announced John Bolton would become National Security Adviser to Trump. Read more

Fired446 days

Tom Bossert

Homeland Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer

White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert was pushed out of his position by the newly installed national security adviser John Bolton Read more

Fired434 days

Michael Anton

National Security Council | Trump White House staffer

Anton was brought into the NSC by Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser, who plead guilty to lying to the FBI last year. Anton resigned after learning he would be fired the next day. Read more

Fired411 days

H.R. McMaster

National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer

Trump was irked by reports that he had faced internal pushback from Bolton over his decision to host leaders of the Taliban at Camp David. Trump announced Bolton's departure on Twitter. Bolton immediately disputed Trump's characterization in his own tweet. Read more

Resigned434 days

Hope Hicks

White House Communications Director | Trump White House staffer

Hicks, one of Trump's longest-serving and closest aides, resigned in the wake of the scandal involving former senior aide Rob Porter, whose public defense Hicks helped craft while also dating him. Read more

Fired432 days

David Shulkin

Secretary of Veterans Affairs | Trump appointee

Trump once joked that his signature phrase, "you're fired" would never be used with Shulkin, but things soured early this year. Shulkin was the subject of a damning report from the department's inspector general that found the VA leader had spent a good deal of a European trip sightseeing and had inappropriately accepted a gift of Wimbledon tickets. Read more

Unknown357 days

Josh Raffel

Deputy Communications Director | Trump White House staffer

Raffel, who was recruited to the White House by Jared Kushner, primarily served as a spokesman for Ivanka Trump and Kushner's White House initiatives, including the Office of American Innovation and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Read more

Resigned279 days

John Dowd

Trump's lead lawyer | Trump legal team

Dowd's resignation came as Trump stepped up his attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller and days after Dowd said in a statement the investigation should end, initially claiming he was speaking for the President before saying he was only speaking for himself. Read more

Fired406 days

Rex Tillerson

Secretary of State | Trump appointee

The former Exxon CEO was supposed to be a star in Trump's Cabinet, but he and the President never seemed to be on the same page. Tillerson is reported to have referred to Trump as a "moron" during a meeting. Trump tapped CIA Director Mike Pompeo as the next secretary of state. Tillerson said he'll hand over all authority on March 13, but will technically stay in office until March 31. Read more

Fired418 days

John McEntee

Personal aide to the President | Trump White House staffer

McEntee was fired and escorted from the White House. Two sources said McEntee was pushed out because of issues with his security clearance, making him the latest aide to be forced out because of difficulties obtaining a permanent security clearance. Minutes later, McEntee was hired to work on Trump's re-election campaign. Read more

Resigned414 days

John Feeley

US Ambassador to Panama | Obama appointee

According to an excerpt of his resignation letter that was read to CNN, Feeley's decision was clearly prompted by differences with the Trump administration but was made before the reporting about President Donald Trump's "shithole" comments. Read more

Resigned411 days

Gary Cohn

Chief Economic Adviser | Trump White House staffer

Cohn left the White House in the wake of his fierce disagreement with the President's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Read more

Resigned268 days

Rachel Brand

Associate Attorney General | Trump appointee

A veteran of the George W. Bush administration, Brand's appointment to the number three position at the Justice Department was seen as a solid professional choice. She left for a job in the private sector. Read more

Resigned285 days

David Sorensen

White House speechwriter | Trump White House staffer

Sorensen resigned after being accused of domestic abuse, which he denied. He exited the same week that top White House staffer Rob Porter also resigned amid domestic abuse allegations. Read more

Resigned384 days

Rob Porter

White House Staff Secretary | Trump White House staffer

Porter resigned after two ex-wives went public with allegations of past abuse, which he denied. His security clearance had been stalled, although as staff secretary, Porter was one of the gatekeepers to Trump and the Oval Office. Read more

Resigned215 days

Taylor Weyeneth

Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy | Trump White House staffer

Weyeneth, a 24-year-old former Trump campaign employee, left after a Washington Post investigation found that he had misrepresented his credentials. But weeks later he assumed a new midlevel role at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Read more

Resigned209 days

Brenda Fitzgerald

Director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention | Trump appointee

Fitzgerald resigned a day after Politico reported she purchased tobacco stock after she took the position at the nation's top public health agency. Read more

Fired375 days

Andrew McCabe

FBI Deputy Director | Obama appointee

A career FBI agent, McCabe resigned in late January after being a central target of Trump's ire toward the FBI. Various sources described McCabe's departure as a mutual decision, while others said it was the result of pressure to leave. On March 16, Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired McCabe over accusations he directed FBI officials to speak to the media about an investigation tied to the Clinton Foundation and misled investigators about his actions. The firing came less than two days before he was set to retire. Read more

Resigned546 days

Marc Short

Director of Legislative Affairs | Trump White House staffer

Short shepherded Trump's tax cuts to successful passage late last year in what was the high-water mark of his time in the White House. However, Short also led the unsuccessful push to repeal Obamacare, and he helped negotiate a budget deal that Trump nearly refused to sign in the spring. Read more

Resigned366 days

Omarosa Manigault Newman

Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison | Trump White House staffer

Manigault Newman was one of Trump's most high-profile African-American supporters and a former contestant on "The Apprentice." She was the top communications official at the White House Office of Public Liaison, but when chief of staff John Kelly took over, her role began to feel ill-defined, sources said. She resigned to "pursue other opportunities." Read more

Resigned354 days

Dina Powell

Deputy National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer

Powell joined the Trump administration in a senior role focused on entrepreneurship, economic growth and the empowerment of women, and in March 2017 she was named deputy national security adviser. Powell is said to have left the administration on good terms with the President. Read more

Resigned309 days

Jeremy Katz

Deputy Director at the National Economic Council | Trump White House staffer

Katz was one of the people behind the White House's push to rewrite the tax code. His resignation came after the bill was signed by Trump. Read more

Unknown347 days

Rick Dearborn

Deputy White House Chief of Staff | Trump White House staffer

Dearborn, who previously served as Jeff Sessions' chief of staff in the Senate for several years, left the White House in early 2018 to pursue work in the private sector. Dearborn had a wide portfolio in the White House, overseeing its political operation, public outreach and legislative affairs. Read more

Resigned209 days

George Sifakis

Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Liaison | Trump White House staffer

Sifakis left the administration shortly after former chief of staff Reince Priebus, a close ally and personal friend, made his own exit. Read more

Resigned232 days

Tom Price

Health and Human Services Secretary | Trump appointee

Price resigned in the midst of a scandal over his use of private planes. He was being investigated by the department's inspector general for private flights that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Price insisted that his trips had been approved. Read more

Resigned244 days

Keith Schiller

Director of Oval Office Operations | Trump White House staffer

Schiller was a longtime Trump aide and confidant. He's the one who went to the FBI to notify James Comey that he was fired. He told associates in early September that he planned to leave at the end of the month and that the reason was financial. But the move came shortly after Kelly became chief of staff with the mission of instilling new order inside Trump's often chaotic White House. Read more

Unknown214 days

Sebastian Gorka

White House deputy assistant | Trump White House staffer

Gorka was one of Trump's most prominent cheerleaders, frequently hitting the airwaves to defend the President's national security policies and public statements. But his role outside of television appearances was unclear. Read more

Resigned211 days

Carl Icahn

Special Adviser on Regulatory Reform | Adviser

Icahn stepped down in August 2017. He was criticized by Democrats who said his advisory role created a conflict of interest because he had not taken a formal government job and was still running his businesses. Read more

Fired211 days

Steve Bannon

White House Chief Strategist | Trump White House staffer

The President, whose relationship was already souring with Bannon, fired his chief strategist after Bannon was quoted contradicting Trump in American Prospect magazine. Bannon returned to his role as executive chairman of Breitbart News, but lost that position shortly after his incendiary comments about the Trump White House were revealed in Michael Wolff's book 'Fire and Fury.' Read more

Fired195 days

Ezra Cohen-Watnick

Senior Director for Intelligence on the National Security Council | Trump White House staffer

Cohen-Watnick came under scrutiny for his alleged roundabout role in providing incidental foreign surveillance information concerning members of Trump's team to GOP Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Nunes later told CNN that it was definitely not Cohen-Watnick who provided him the information. Read more

Resigned193 days

George Gigicos

White House Director of Scheduling and Advance | Trump White House staffer

Gigicos said he would return to his consulting business and work for the Trump 2020 campaign. Gigicos was later fired for work on the campaign because of the size of crowds at an Arizona rally in August, 2017. Read more

Fired11 days

Anthony Scaramucci

White House Communications Director | Trump White House staffer

"The Mooch" resigned after a profanity-laced interview with The New Yorker. Scaramucci was the third White House communications director to leave the post. He held the job for just 10 days. Read more

Fired190 days

Reince Priebus

White House Chief of Staff | Trump White House staffer

Resigned after months of speculation he would be ousted by the administration. "The President wanted to go a different direction," he told CNN. Read more

Fired183 days

Derek Harvey

National Security Council Adviser | Trump White House staffer

Harvey, a longtime intelligence officer, was appointed by former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn during his short tenure. The National Security Council did not provide a specific reason for Harvey's removal. Read more

Unknown187 days

Michael Short

Assistant Press Secretary | Trump White House staffer

Resigned or fired by Anthony Scaramucci, ostensibly to stop leaks to the media. Responding to reports that he was being linked to White House leaks, Short said "the entire premise is false." Read more

Fired183 days

Rich Higgins

Strategic Planning Aide | Trump White House staffer

Higgins allegedly wrote a memo that purports to unravel a deep state conspiracy theory about a coordinated effort to delegitimize and destroy the President. The reason Higgins was fired was not made public. Read more

Resigned183 days

Sean Spicer

White House Press Secretary | Trump White House staffer

Spicer resigned after Scaramucci was named the new White House communications director, capping off a roller coaster six-month tenure as the chief spokesman for an administration besieged by a steady drumbeat of controversy. Read more

Resigned50 days

Mark Corallo

Spokesman and Communications Strategist for Trump's legal team | Trump legal team

Corallo's resignation came after weeks of simmering tension between the White House and the President's legal team. He declined to comment on the circumstances of his departure. His exact start date is unclear. Read more

Resigned181 days

Walter Shaub

Office of Government Ethics Director | Obama appointee

Accepted a position with the Campaign Legal Center after months of clashes with the administration over Trump's refusal to divest his businesses. Shaub had served as director of the Office of Government Ethics under President Obama since 2013. Read more

Unknown168 days

Tera Dahl

Deputy Chief of Staff for the National Security Council | Trump White House staffer

Dahl, a former Breitbart writer and ally of Steve Bannon's, left after less than six months on the National Security Council for a role "that she wants" at the US Agency for International Development. Read more

Resigned119 days

Michael Dubke

White House Communications Director | Trump White House staffer

Dubke said he had "a good conversation with the President" after submitting his resignation. He declined to discuss the turmoil inside the West Wing, saying only that he was resigning "for a number of reasons -- for personal reasons." Dubke's exact start date is unclear. Read more

Fired110 days

James Comey

FBI Director | Obama appointee

The Trump administration attributed Comey's dismissal to his handling of the investigation into Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's email server, but Democrats ridiculed that notion, raising parallels to Watergate-era firings and suggesting Comey was getting too close to the White House with the Russia probe. Read more

Unknown106 days

Angella Reid

White House Chief Usher | Non-political White House employee

Left the Trump administration after 106 days. She had served as White House Chief Usher under President Obama since 2011. No specific reason was given for her departure. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said, "It's not uncommon that you might have a transition when a new administration comes in and it's simply nothing more than that." Read more

Resigned95 days

Vivek Murthy

Surgeon General | Obama appointee

Murthy resigned at the request of the White House after assisting in the transition to the Trump administration. He continues as a member of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Read more

Resigned80 days

K.T. McFarland

Deputy National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer

McFarland was top deputy to Michael Flynn before his firing. She was to leave her post in the White House to become US ambassador to Singapore, but that fell through after Democrats objected to her nomination. Read more

Resigned70 days

Katie Walsh

Deputy Chief of Staff | Trump White House staffer

Walsh was Reince Priebus' deputy, joining him in the administration after serving as his chief of staff when he was chairman of the Republican National Committee. She left to serve as a senior adviser to America First Policies, a nonprofit group helmed by former Trump campaign officials. Read more

Fired25 days

Michael Flynn

National Security Adviser | Trump White House staffer

Forced to resign amid claims he misled the administration over his communications with Russia during the transition. In early December 2017, Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. He is cooperating with Robert Mueller's Russia investigation. Read more

Fired11 days

Sally Yates

US Deputy Attorney General | Obama appointee

Fired when she was acting attorney general because she refused to implement the first iteration of Trump's ban on travelers from a number of Muslim-majority countries. Trump had tapped Yates to serve as interim attorney general while Jeff Sessions went through Senate confirmation. Yates also served as deputy attorney general under President Obama. Read more

Paul LeBlanc, Sean O'Key, and Brenna Williams contributed to this report.