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  • I'm sorry, please stop shaking your head again.

  • Remember this guy?

  • That's Sean Spicer, who served as the White House press secretary...until he resigned

  • after some testy encounters with the press.

  • Well, how about Hope Hicks, White House Communications Director?

  • She resigned amid rising tensions in the administration.

  • Then there's “The Mooch”— otherwise known as Anthony Scaramucci.

  • White House Communications Director for only 11 days before getting fired.

  • Staff Secretary Rob Porter?

  • Quit after allegations of domestic abuse.

  • NSC Staffer Rich Higgins? Booted.

  • Omarosa?

  • Resigned to take...a different position.

  • If it seems like there's been a ton of turnover at the White House, well, there has been.

  • In fact, Trump's White House has seen more turnover in its first year than the past five

  • administrations.

  • So, is this normal?

  • High staff turnover at the White House isn't necessarily unusual.

  • Newly-inaugurated presidents often fill some spots in their administration with campaign

  • staff, and later replace them with more seasoned picks.

  • but, the SHEER NUMBER of people leaving the Trump administration is unusual.

  • I think the turnover is high and it's not just high it's off the charts.

  • That's Kathryn Dunn Tenpas.

  • She researched turnover among the president's most influential staff going back five administrations.

  • Since Reagan those five presidents the highest turnover rate during that first year was Ronald

  • Reagan at 17 percent.

  • I calculated the same data for President Trump and his turnover rate during that first

  • year was 34 percent.

  • So he doubled the previous highest rate of turnover and just for the sake of comparison the

  • low turnover for a year one turnover is

  • President George W. Bush who had a low turnover of 6 percent.

  • So you can see that the 34 is clearly an outlier.

  • So there's two potential factors contributing

  • to this high turnover rate.

  • Drain the swamp.

  • First, on the campaign trail, Trump promised todrain the swamp”.

  • You're right about the swamp, say it again.

  • And put a premium on loyalty.

  • So, much of his initial staff were campaign holdovers without government experience.

  • Another factor was Trump's rocky first year in office.

  • Warmongering against the dictator of North Korea -

  • Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself.

  • - a bitter rivalry with the press -

  • Quiet, quiet quiet.

  • - and of course the massive ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in American affairs

  • created a, well, let's say hostile work environment.

  • Get that son of a b***h off the field right now. Out. He's fired.

  • But putting aside the question ofnormal,” at the end of the day, does any of this matter?

  • When a very senior level person leaves there's often a domino effect in which some of his

  • junior staffers will leave as well, because the incoming person

  • wants to build their own staff.

  • Then, of course, all these new hires need to be trained and brought up to speed, which

  • puts pressure on other staffers who need to step in order to pick up the slack.

  • And there's aspects of the job that can't be learned.

  • The most senior people are leaving.

  • They tend to have a little bit more expertise.

  • Oftentimes they have close relations with the president and a good rapport with the

  • president and those kinds of qualities and skills are not easily replaceable.

  • All this results in a White House that is increasingly isolated and unable to pursue

  • its goals.

  • It is true that most of Trump's departures happened early in his first year.

  • And these staff changes can be a way for Trump to change course in the face of low approval

  • ratings and a stagnant legislative agenda.

  • But with senior aides losing their security clearances, and rumors swirling about even

  • more resignations, there's no indication that the Trump Administration is stabilizing.

  • I think when you get to this high level of turnover then that raises questions

  • as to how well his staff can perform and how well they can advance his agenda.

  • If the door keeps you know revolving and people are in and out in and out you don't

  • have any institutional memory you're losing expertise that you had

  • and it just makes your job more difficult.

  • Hey guys, thanks for watching this video.

  • I just wanted to share a quick story with you.

  • While I was making this, staffers were leaving the White House so frequently,

  • that I had a hard time keeping the prop and the script updated, which is pretty wild.

  • So if you want to keep up to date with the comings and goings of the White House,

  • make sure to check out vox.com, we'll be tracking that there.

  • So, stay tuned.

I'm sorry, please stop shaking your head again.

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