Every single person to have left President Donald Trump’s second-term Cabinet so far has, without exception, been a woman.
Tulsi Gabbard became the latest to depart MAGA’s ranks as a department-level head at the White House when she told Trump late last month she’d be stepping down, effective June 30, from her role as Director of National Intelligence.
Gabbard said she’d made the decision because she needed to better support her husband, who has a rare form of bone cancer. Trump had meanwhile made little secret of his dissatisfaction with her performance, especially her failure to give full-throated backing to his war in Iran.
Her exit makes her the fourth woman to leave the Cabinet since Trump returned to office in January 2025, with not a single man yet following them. The losses mirror a broader thinning of women across the administration’s senior ranks, according to analysis by the Washington Post, which first reported the pattern Tuesday.
The newspaper found that just 14.53 percent of the president’s nominees and Senate-confirmed appointees, or 51 of 351 roles, are female—the lowest share under any president since George W. Bush. That trails the 52.5 percent female share among appointees at the same point in Joe Biden’s presidency, along with the 23.7 percent logged during Trump’s first term.
Trump forced two of the departees out himself. He removed former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in March following a combative Senate hearing over her conduct, and weeks later dismissed then-Attorney General Pam Bondi amid anger over the Justice Department’s handling of records on the Jeffrey Epstein case under her watch.
The other two stepped down. Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April for a private-sector job as a misconduct inquiry engulfed her department, while Gabbard exited after months of being sidelined on her own portfolio of national security matters.
Trump has now named men to fill all four posts. Former Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin has replaced Noem at DHS, with Trump’s former defense attorney and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to replace Bondi at the DOJ.
The president has tipped Chavez-DeRemer’s deputy Keith Sonderling to replace her at the Department of Labor, and housing chief Bill Pulte to step into Gabbard’s soon-to-be-vacated seat as Director of National Intelligence.
Max Stier, who runs the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service, told The Washington Post that administrations have historically performed best under leadership that “reflects the diversity of the American people.”
Heather Higgins, of the right-wing non-profit Independent Women’s Voice, struck a different tone, arguing that “the confirmation gantlet falls hardest on conservative women who can expect their families, faith, and reputations to be put through the wood-chipper.”
The Daily Beast contacted the White House for comment on this story.
“President Trump has assembled the greatest Administration in history, selecting each member of his incredible team based on one criterion: their ability to deliver for the American people,” spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said.
“Unlike the identity-politics-obsessed Democrats, the President judges individuals on merit and qualifications, not immutable characteristics,” she added. “That’s common sense and what makes this country great.”
