Who’s out in spring Trump administration shake-up?

For the first 13 months of the Trump administration, no major personnel changes occurred. But since the middle of March, at least five Cabinet, intelligence or military officials have left the administration.

The latest departure occurred Wednesday, when the Pentagon announced that Navy Secretary John Phelan was on the way out.

Here is what to know about the spring shake-up in the nation’s capital.

Kristi Noem, the former Republican governor of South Dakota, oversaw the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) aggressive immigration enforcement campaign — fulfilling one of President Trump’s campaign promises

But her tenure was marred by her handling of federal officers fatally shooting two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in Minneapolis earlier this year. Trump sidelined Noem in the wake of the second shooting and sent White House border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota.

Noem also received bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill for the bottleneck of disaster relief funding under her watch, which those lawmakers said resulted from a new policy that required all contracts and grants worth more than $100,000 to receive approval from Noem.

What ultimately led to her ouster was when Noem told the Senate Judiciary Committee in early March that the president signed off on a $220 million ad campaign promoting Noem on horseback. Trump told Reuters at the time that he “never knew anything about” the ad campaign.

Upon her departure from the DHS, Noem became the administration’s special envoy to “The Shield of the Americas,” a multinational initiative to combat drug trafficking in the Western Hemisphere. She was succeeded as secretary by former Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.).

Pam Bondi took charge of the Department of Justice (DOJ) after Trump withdrew his initial nomination of former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for attorney general. 

The former Florida attorney general oversaw the DOJ’s release of files related to its investigation into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, in compliance with a law that the president initially criticized but later signed. 

Bondi came under intense scrutiny from lawmakers over her handling of those documents during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in February. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who co-authored the law requiring the DOJ to publish the Epstein files, called the issue “bigger than Watergate.”

The former attorney general departed the DOJ earlier this month for a role in the private sector. Her former deputy, Todd Blanche, has since taken over as acting attorney general.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer, a former GOP congresswoman from Oregon, said Monday she is leaving the administration to take a job in the private sector. 

Chavez-DeRemer was the subject of an investigation by the Labor Department’s inspector general’s office, run by former Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.). The New York Times reported Monday that a whistleblower alleged the secretary was having an affair with a member of her security team and used department resources for personal trips. 

Female staff members at the department also accused Chavez-DeRemer’s husband of making unwanted sexual advances, after which he was barred from Labor headquarters, according to the Times. 

After announcing her departure from the administration, Chavez-DeRemer released a statement in which she wrote that the allegations against her, her family and her team “have been peddled by high-ranked deep state actors who have been coordinating with the one-sided news media and continue to undermine” the president. 

In her stead, Keith Sonderling has taken over as acting Labor secretary.

Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned on March 17 over his opposition to the war in Iran.

In a letter to Trump, Kent wrote that Iran “posed no imminent threat” to the country and the president authorized strikes “due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”

Kent is a former Army warrant officer whose wife, Navy officer Shannon Kent, was killed in a 2019 suicide bombing in Syria. 

“I pray that you will reflect upon what we are doing in Iran, and who we are doing it for,” Kent wrote to the president. “The time for bold action is now. You can can reverse course and chart a new path for our nation, or you can allow us to slip further toward decline and chaos. You hold the cards.”

Trump has dismissed Kent’s assertions that he was dragged into the war by Israeli officials. Joe Weirsky, meanwhile, is serving as the acting director of the center.

Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, said Wednesday that John Phelan was departing his role as secretary of the Navy “effective immediately.”

Phelan, a fundraiser for Trump’s presidential campaigns with no prior military experience, was ousted amid tension with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to CNN.

The outlet wrote that Hegseth took issue with Phelan’s implementation of shipbuilding reform and his close relationship with the president. 

Phelan’s departure comes as the Navy is enforcing a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command said Wednesday that its forces have directed 31 vessels to turn around or return to port since the blockade began on April 13. 

Parnell said that Hung Cao, a former Navy captain who unsuccessfully ran for the House and Senate in Virginia, will take over as acting Navy secretary.

Also, earlier this month, Hegseth forced out the Army’s chief of staff, Gen. Randy George. Parnell said at the time that George was retiring.

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