Brookings: Trump’s Second-Term Appointments Produce the Least Diverse Cabinet of the 21st Century

Research from the Brookings Institution shows that President Donald Trump’s second-term nominations have produced the least diverse U.S. government of the 21st century, with white men overwhelmingly filling Senate-confirmed positions while representation of women and people of color has declined.

According to Brookings’ tracker, nine in 10 individuals confirmed by the Senate during the first 300 days of the administration were white, and just 16% of confirmed nominees were women—the lowest share among the last four administrations and down from 23% in Trump’s first term.

“For the Biden administration at the one-year point it was 50% male, 50% female and right now in the Trump administration it’s 84% male, 16% female,” said Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, director of the initiative on improving inter-branch relations and government, in an interview with Brookings.

Tenpas added that, even compared with the start of the George W. Bush administration in 2001, the confirmed nominees in this Trump term are whiter, more male and less ethnically diverse than predecessors going back two decades.

The analysis notes several administration actions and policy priorities that reflect or reinforce this trend: removal or sidelining of prominent Black officials such as Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress; executive orders limiting federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs; and efforts to remove what the administration describes as "divisive, race-centered ideology" from Smithsonian Institution exhibits.

Staffing the senior ranks of the executive branch is a large, often slow process: an administration must identify, vet and nominate roughly 1,340 roles that require Senate confirmation. Brookings’ tracker monitors confirmations across the 15 executive departments in the presidential line of succession.

Brookings found a faster confirmation pace in this second Trump administration: 216 confirmations in the first 300 days compared with 140 during the same period of the Biden administration. The pace accelerated in the most recent 100-day window, producing 118 confirmations—more than the 98 confirmed in the first 200 days—and Brookings attributes that surge in part to a Senate rule change.

In September, Senate Republicans altered procedures to allow en bloc confirmation of multiple lower-level, non-judicial nominees by simple majority, reducing the ability of a single objection to block a batch. On 18 September the Senate confirmed 48 nominees at once. Critics argue the change dilutes individual scrutiny at the final floor vote, though committee vetting remains unchanged.

The Brookings data also reveal shifting departmental priorities. The State Department saw a sharp decline in confirmations—just 31 in the first 300 days—compared with 133 under George W. Bush and 92 under Barack Obama, suggesting a pullback from traditional diplomatic staffing. By contrast, the Justice Department recorded 14 confirmations in the same period (higher than Biden’s 13 and Trump’s first term at 9), indicating an emphasis on domestic legal and judicial appointments. The Energy Department had 16 confirmations over 300 days—more than in any of the previous four administrations—with 13 of those occurring in the latest 100-day span, pointing to renewed focus on energy policy.

These patterns—faster overall confirmations, fewer diplomatic appointments, and greater representation of white men—underscore a strategic and ideological shift in personnel priorities. Brookings’ tracker and experts say the trends reflect policy choices and procedural changes that will shape government direction for years.