Critical Analysis

1. According to the data from the table above what percent of Joe Biden’s “A-Team” (see definition below)* left office this year?

2. How does turnover in Biden’s A-Team compare to that of the previoous president?

3. Why do you think that is?

4. What is one consequence of so little turnover at the top of Biden'’s organization?

5. What exactly is the Executive Office of the President? And is there anything setting up or laying out the powers of the executive office of the President in the U.S. Constitution?

6. Is there anything setting up or laying out the powers of The Cabinet in the U.S. Constitution?

7. Compare the EOP and the Cabinet in terms of their confirmation process and duties?

8. What has the turnover rate been like for the Biden Cabinet?*

9. In Federalist No. 70, Alexander Freaking Hamilton writes about the executive freaking branch. Hamilton writes that, “A feeble Executive implies a feeble execution of the government. A feeble execution is but another phrase for a bad execution; and a government ill executed, whatever it may be in theory, must be, in practice, a bad government.” What do you think Hamilton would say about whether the Constitution would allow an Executive Office of the President?

10. Considering Hamilton’s Federalist No. 70, and the low level of turnover in the Biden Executive Office of the President and Cabinet. Make a claim about whether Hamilton would consider the Biden administration enfeebled.

What is the “A-Team”?

Determining the composition of the president’s A-Team—the most influential staff members—is highly subjective. However, the author of this study adopted a process that relies on a consistent source and seeks to remove as much subjectivity as possible. From 1981 to 2009, National Journal published a special edition called “Decision Makers” at the start of each new administration. A group of reporters would spend the first few months of a new administration trying to determine who among the new arrivals might be most influential. The special edition included staff biographies and often pictures of these “Decision Makers.” These five listings included an average of 60 staff members from the Executive Office of the President (EOP), and identified individuals working in the White House Office, the Council on Environmental Quality, the National Security Council, and select members of the vice president’s staff, among other entities. While there was variation from administration to administration in terms of which positions were included, most were recurring positions. This study focuses primarily, but not exclusively, on turnover in the president’s “A-Team,” defined as senior executive-office positions that do not require Senate confirmation.

Learning Extension

Read about turnover in the first year of the Biden Administration.

Action Extension

Tweet Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas, the author of the study of administrative turnover, and ask her to explain the low level of turnover in the Biden administration.

Visual Extension*