美国国家公共电台 NPR Turnover In Trump's White House Is 'Record-Setting,' And It Isn't Even Close

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

If President Trump¹'s first year in office seemed chaotic² from a staffing perspective, there's a reason for that. According to a new Brookings Institution report, turnover³ among top-level staff in the Trump White House set records, and it is not even close when it comes to those records. NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith has the details, and you're hearing them first on NPR.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE⁴: Thirty-four percent - that's the share of top White House aides who either resigned, were fired or moved into different positions in the first year of the Trump presidency⁵. Now, for some perspective, that's nearly three times President Obama's first year turnover and double President Reagan's.

KATHRYN DUNN TENPAS: It's staggeringly high.

KEITH: Kathryn Dunn Tenpas is a researcher at the Brookings Institution, a think tank, and White House staff turnover is her specialty⁶.

TENPAS: President Trump has lost half of his most senior-level staff members, and that's in contrast to President Obama, whose single departure at that level was Greg Craig, his White House counsel. And under George W. Bush, there were no departures in that highest tier.

KEITH: The turnover in the Trump White House has at times been head-spinning. First, there was former National Security Adviser⁷ Michael Flynn, who resigned under pressure after just 24 days on the job. His was the shortest tenure⁸ ever for a national security adviser.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

SEAN SPICER: We got to a point not based on a legal issue but based on a trust issue where the level of trust between the president and General Flynn had eroded⁹ to the point where he felt he had to make a change.

KEITH: That voice you just heard is now former press secretary Sean Spicer. He resigned July 21 at the start of a remarkable¹⁰ month-long streak¹¹ of staffing chaos¹² that also saw the arrival and departure of communications director Anthony Scaramucci and the resignations of chief strategist Steve Bannon and Trump's original chief of staff, Reince Priebus. He gave an exit interview to CNN.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER")

REINCE PRIEBUS: I think it's a good time to hit the reset¹³ button. I think he was right to hit the reset button, and I think that it was something that I think the White House needs. I think it's healthy.

KEITH: His tenure was uncommonly¹⁴ short for a first chief of staff. So why has the Trump White House had so very much turnover? Tenpas attributes it to a small, unconventional campaign, meaning fewer staff to bring into the White House and an emphasis on loyalty¹⁵ over experience. Many Republicans who had served in past administrations either weren't welcome or weren't interested.

TENPAS: I think that sort of can create a situation where there's a lot of missteps, and in order to seem as though a president is taking charge and trying to improve the situation, many times they fire people.

KEITH: Firing, resigning under pressure - whatever you want to call it, Tenpas argues it does have consequences.

TENPAS: Turnover creates disruption. It creates inefficiencies. It affects the morale¹⁶. If you see people around you getting fired at a very high level, there's a lot of angst about that.

KEITH: In an interview on Fox News this week, current Chief of Staff John Kelly was asked to explain all the turnover.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SPECIAL REPORT")

JOHN KELLY: Campaigning is very, very different than governing. It's really, really hard work to govern at this level. And some people that were perhaps involved in the campaign didn't make that transition.

KEITH: Kelly insists he's brought more stability to the staff, but the departures have continued under his leadership. As for Kelly, he says he's in it for the long haul. But typically, the second year of an administration has much more turnover than the first. As President Trump says, we'll see what happens.

Tamara Keith, NPR News.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

3 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

8 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

9 eroded   

adj. 被侵蚀的，有蚀痕的 动词erode的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The cliff face has been steadily eroded by the sea. 峭壁表面逐渐被海水侵蚀。
• The stream eroded a channel in the solid rock. 小溪在硬石中侵蚀成一条水道。

10 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

11 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

12 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

13 reset   

v.重新安排，复位；n.重新放置；重放之物

参考例句：

• As soon as you arrive at your destination,step out of the aircraft and reset your wristwatch.你一到达目的地，就走出飞机并重新设置手表时间。
• He is recovering from an operation to reset his arm.他做了一个手臂复位手术，正在恢复。

14 uncommonly   

adv. 稀罕(极，非常)

参考例句：

• an uncommonly gifted child 一个天赋异禀的儿童
• My little Mary was feeling uncommonly empty. 我肚子当时正饿得厉害。

15 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

16 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。