President Donald Trump became a household name for his catchphrase “you’re fired.” And in one way or another since taking office, he’s seen a number of his top employees resign or removed. Here are a few of the biggest names to go and where they are now.
National security adviser Michael Flynn
Start date: January 20, 2017
End date: February 13, 2017
The former three-star general embraced Trump about as hard as anyone during the 2016 campaign and became Trump’s first national security adviser.
His tenure ended after less than a month, during which he appeared in the White House press briefing room to announce Iran was “on notice” for testing a ballistic missile, and he went down amid reports he had misled Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with then-Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the transition.
Since his ouster, Flynn has remained under intense scrutiny for his contacts with Russians during and after the election, as well as for his lobbying work, as several federal probes continue into Russia’s efforts to influence last year’s presidential election and any potential collusion by the Trump campaign.
Flynn, who has kept a low profile, was issued congressional subpoenas earlier this year, and The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday the special counsel investigation helmed by former FBI Director Robert Mueller is looking into whether Flynn tried to obtain Hillary Clinton’s emails from Russian hackers, citing people familiar with the matter.
Acting Attorney General Sally Yates
Start date: January 20, 2017 (was deputy attorney general in Obama administration)
End date: January 30, 2017
Yates, a holdover from the Obama administration, was asked to stay on briefly and lead the Justice Department until Jeff Sessions was confirmed as attorney general.
But Yates went on to defy Trump, ordering the Justice Department not to defend Trump’s — now rescinded and replaced — controversial executive order banning travel from several majority-Muslim nations. Yates contended the order was unlawful, and Trump fired her.
Yates, as a former top Justice Department official, has also reemerged in Washington to testify about the investigation into alleged election meddling by Russia. Meanwhile, she has built a sizable following on social media, and as a prominent Democrat from Georgia, she has generated a stir among local political minds that she may one day be a viable candidate for office in a state overwhelmingly represented by Republicans.
In an interview, Yates said she would not run for governor of Georgia but acknowledged she “may have a voice” she previously did not.
US attorney Preet Bharara
Start date: Confirmed August 7, 2009
End date: March 11, 2017
Like Yates, Bharara was a Justice Department holdover from the last administration — a US attorney for the southern district of Trump’s home state of New York.
In March, Trump asked Bharara to resign along with the other US attorneys. Bharara refused and was fired.
And like Yates, Bharara, too, has not kept quiet. He went on Twitter shortly after his firing to announce what had happened and continues to build a following on social media. He’s spoken about his tenure and his interactions with Trump in public remarks and interviews, saying Trump tried to speak with him during the transition.
After his firing, Bharara became a distinguished scholar in residence at New York University School of Law.
FBI Director James Comey
Start date: Confirmed July 29, 2013
End date: May 9, 2017
Trump rocked the political world in early May when he cut Comey’s 10-year term as FBI director short.
What followed accelerated the pace and nature of the investigations into the Trump campaign, including the appointment of Mueller as a special counsel.
Comey said after his firing that Trump had reached out to him several times and indicated he wanted the Justice Department to stop investigating Flynn. He also said the President later told him he hoped Comey could find a way to get out that Trump wasn’t being investigated as part of the Russia probe.
Comey made records of these conversations in a series of memos and spoke at length in a public hearing of the Senate intelligence committee in June.
Apart from that, Comey has rarely been heard in public, although his shadow continues to loom over the President.
People can expect to hear from him in some capacity soon however. Howard University announced Comey would be the college’s convocation speaker this fall.
White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci
Start date: Announced July 21, 2017
End date: July 31, 2017
Scaramucci jumped into the center of the political world all at once in July and left just as quickly.
A New York hedge-fund manager, he had been a prominent TV surrogate for the President during and after the campaign. Once he became the White House communications director, he immediately began offering a series of colorful answers and revealing anecdotes in interviews, including discussions of his private conversations with the President.
About a week in, Scaramucci made his now-infamous comments to New Yorker writer and CNN contributor Ryan Lizza. The crude remarks rippled across the internet and were followed shortly thereafter with a note of contrition, an attack on Lizza and the ouster of Reince Priebus as chief of staff.
Priebus’ replacement, former Gen. John Kelly, was brought in with a mandate to bring order to the White House, and in one of his first official acts as chief of staff, he got rid of Scaramucci.
“The Mooch,” as Scaramucci called himself, waited a few days before getting back on television and doing interviews.
He has continued to keep up a public presence, tweeting about his episode in the White House, and is reportedly scheduled to speak at Liberty University, a Christian college led by Jerry Falwell Jr., a prominent supporter of the President.
White House press secretary and acting communications director Sean Spicer
Start date: January 20, 2017
End date: Resignation announced July 21, 2017
The day Scaramucci came into the White House was the day Spicer announced he would step down as White House press secretary.
He started the job by delivering a bizarre harangue about the number of people who attended the President’s inauguration, and his combative and obfuscatory approach to press briefings made him something of a household figure — boosted in part by comedian Melissa McCarthy’s portrayal of him on “Saturday Night Live.”
Speculation has abounded over what his next steps will be, including the idea he would appear on the show “Dancing with the Stars.”
The co-executive producer of the show told CNN she had not booked Spicer, but left open the possibility she might cast one of the people from the growing pool of former Trump officials.
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus
Start date: January 20, 2017
End date: Announced July 28, 2017
Priebus helped navigate the bomb-throwing Trump candidacy through the Republican primary and stood beside the President on election night.
The former Republican National Committee chairman went on to get the top staff job in the White House, but he was given second-billing in the announcement to Steve Bannon, the White House’s chief strategist, and had a notoriously difficult time leading Trump’s team.
Priebus has stayed out of the limelight since stepping down, and, in an exit interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, he said he had no hard feelings and supported the President’s decision to replace him with Kelly.
As the investigations into potential collusion between Russia and Trump’s associates continue to develop, Priebus may find himself having to answer investigators’ questions. Early in the administration, he reportedly requested that the FBI help the White House push back on media reports about Russia.
White House deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh
Start date: January 20, 2017
End date: March 30, 2017
Walsh worked for Priebus when he chaired the Republican National Committee, and she entered the White House as Priebus’ deputy.
When the White House was unable to get the House of Representatives to pass a health care bill in March, Walsh left as part of a shakeup.
She went on to join America First Policies, a non-profit political group that supports the Trump administration’s agenda.
Politico reported in July that Walsh had returned to the RNC.
White House communications director Mike Dubke
Start date: Formally announced March 6, 2017
End date: Announced June 2, 2017
Scaramucci may have had the loudest exit from Trump’s communication team, but he was not its first. Mike Dubke came on as communications director in March and after a brief tenure, submitted his resignation in mid-May.
At the time, a friend told CNN Dubke was nearing a point in his divestiture from firms he started and was facing an impending financial sacrifice to stay on a job controlling communications for a White House generally moved by the President’s own tweets.
A source told CNN in May that it was expected Dubke would return to Black Rock Group, a communications firm he co-founded. The company’s website lists him first and cites his experience running the White House communications shop.
White House chief strategist Steve Bannon
Start date: January 20, 2017
End date: August 18, 2017
Perhaps the most hyped and the most criticized member of Trump’s White House team, Bannon moved from running Trump’s campaign in its closing months to a position at the top of the White House.
His nationalist views and willingness to break with Republican orthodoxy made him a dominant figure in the public conception of the Trump White House.
From the order restricting travel from several majority-Muslim nations to Trump’s declaration he would pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement, Bannon’s influence seemed to be felt in some major Trump decisions.
But the gap between him and two military men brought on to the team precipitated his ouster. Bannon was removed from the national security counsel at the discretion of national security adviser H.R. McMaster, and shortly after Kelly came on as chief of staff, Bannon left the White House.
He immediately returned to Breitbart, an ardently pro-Trump media site that Bannon ran prior to coming aboard the campaign.
White House deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka
Start date: Reported January 24, 2017
End date: Announced August 25, 2017
Gorka was a colorful White House figure who became known for his cable news appearances and radio commentary. He came to the White House from Breitbart with a long history of controversial statements and a resume experts said fell short of qualifications for a role advising the President on foreign affairs.
He was fired on Friday, and in an interview, he indicated he would return to Breitbart.
Deputy national security adviser KT McFarland
Start date: January 20, 2017
End date: Reported on April 9, 2017 she would be leaving the White House. Nominated for ambassadorship on June 15, 2017.
McFarland was a national security staffer who turned to politics and became a Fox News contributor in recent years. She came on to Trump’s team as Flynn’s deputy, and after Flynn’s ouster, reports said McFarland was due to go as well.
It was reported in April she would step down, and she was formally nominated to be the US ambassador to Singapore in June. She awaits confirmation by the Senate.
More recently, the security council shakeup claimed two more people who came on with Flynn. Both National Security Council senior director for intelligence Ezra Cohen-Watnick and senior director for the Middle East Derek Harvey departed in recent weeks.
A White House official said Cohen-Watnick would be reassigned elsewhere in the administration.
