Almost all the President’s women… are gone or going

Many critics, including women’s rights organizations and political opponents, argue that Trump does not respect women, pointing to a long history of controversial statements, insults regarding women’s appearances, and allegations of misconduct.

In the first 18 months of his return to power, President Donald Trump has assembled a Cabinet only to watch it disassemble, with a notable concentration of women among those who have resigned, been fired, or withdrawn before ever taking their seats.

The pattern is striking not merely for its frequency but for the circumstances: cancer, scandal, a leaked email from 2021, a surgeon general nominee whose own party deemed her unconfirmable, and a homeland security secretary whose immigration enforcement policies ignited a firestorm even within an administration built on border crackdowns.

Tulsi Gabbard resigned as director of national intelligence, citing her husband’s battle with an extremely rare form of bone cancer. She had been confirmed less than a month into the term, a former Democrat turned Trump ally whose anti-interventionist views clashed repeatedly with the president. When Trump pursued strikes against Iran, Gabbard released an unusual video warning about “warmongers” stoking tensions between nuclear powers. Trump’s response was dismissive: “She’s wrong.”

Pam Bondi was fired as attorney general in April. The pressure came from multiple directions, but the final fracture involved the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, a case that has shadowed powerful figures for years. Bondi, a former Florida attorney general and one of Trump’s most loyal defenders during his first impeachment, was replaced by Todd Blanche, her deputy and Trump’s former personal defense attorney.

Lori Chavez-DeRemer resigned as labor secretary in April following misconduct allegations. She left for an unspecified private sector job, the administration said, offering no further detail.

Kristi Noem was fired as homeland security secretary on March 5, 2026. The former South Dakota governor, once seen as a potential Trump running mate, had overseen aggressive immigration enforcement policies that drew national backlash. Reports cited controversies over spending and the treatment of migrants in U.S. cities.

Beyond the Cabinet, the list of women whose nominations collapsed or ended abruptly is longer.

Dr. Casey Means, nominated for surgeon general, saw her candidacy stall in the Senate over concerns about her experience and past comments on vaccines. The administration withdrew her name. Means, a Stanford-trained physician who left an ENT surgical residency to practice functional medicine, had built a following as a wellness influencer and co-founded a health technology company.

Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, another surgeon general nominee, was withdrawn in May after doubts about Senate approval. A Fox News medical contributor educated at a Caribbean medical school, she faced criticism from the far right for her support of the COVID-19 vaccine, which President Trump praised as a “modern-day miracle” after his Operation Warp Speed developed it.

Susan Monarez was fired as CDC director in August, just months after being confirmed 51-47. The White House said she had “not aligned with the President’s agenda of Making America Healthy Again.”

Monarez testified under oath that she was fired because she refused to preemptively commit to accepting CDC advisory panel recommendations and to firing career officials overseeing vaccine policy. She said she was holding the line on scientific integrity. Four other senior CDC officials resigned in the days that followed.

Carla Hayden, the first woman and first African American to serve as librarian of Congress, was fired in May as part of Trump’s broader effort to revamp federal agencies. Confirmed to a 10-year term in 2016, she had served through Trump’s first term, only to be targeted by conservative critics as “woke” and anti-Trump.

Kathleen Sgamma withdrew her nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management in early April. An oil industry executive, she had been scheduled to testify before the Senate Energy Committee when Sen. Mike Lee announced her withdrawal without elaboration.

The reason emerged later: a 2021 email in which Sgamma said she was “disgusted” by the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and Trump’s role in “spreading misinformation that incited it.” She wrote that Trump “besmirched” his administration’s accomplishments by “dishonoring the vote of the people.”

Elise Stefanik, the House Republican Conference chair and one of Trump’s most vocal congressional defenders, saw her nomination to become U.N. ambassador pulled in March. The reason was not scandal but math: Republicans’ slim House majority could not afford her departure.

Stefanik, who had objected to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes in 2020 and helped drive the resignation of a university president over antisemitism testimony, later launched a bid for New York governor, then ended it. She will not seek reelection to Congress.

Each departure has its own logic, its own paper trail of letters, leaks, and press releases. But together they form a portrait of an administration burning through female appointees at a rate that raises questions about vetting, loyalty, and the price of standing on principle — or being perceived to waver.

In at least two cases, the women who left described their firings as consequences of refusing to bend: Monarez on vaccine policy, Gabbard on the risks of escalation with Iran. Whether that pattern holds across the full list is a matter of dispute. What is not in dispute is the arithmetic.

The second Trump administration is not yet two years old. The list of women who have resigned, been fired, or withdrawn after being named to a job continues to grow.