Analysis: Women are just 23% of top Trump aides
Officials dispute numbers, say ratio is ‘nearly the same’
WASHINGTON Men outnumber women by more than 2 to 1 among top aides to President Donald Trump so far, according to the White House and an analysis by USA TODAY.
If that ratio holds as the president finishes filling out his staff, the percentage of women in the West Wing would be smaller than at least five of the past six presidential terms, the analysis shows.
The percentage of women in top White House jobs in previous administrations has ranged from 28 percent under George W. Bush in 2008 to 52 percent under Bill Clinton in 2000, the analysis of staff listings dating back to 1996 found.
The Trump administration is just over four weeks old, but his transition team and White House have announced the appointments of more than 70 top USA TODAY’s analysis of White House news releases about staff hires shows that 23 percent are women.
The White House says the actual percentage of women among top aides is 31 percent. But officials would not release the names or titles of the hires or comment on the record about details of that figure.
Most of the top roles are filled by men, including Trump’s chief strategist and senior advisers for policy and homeland security, as well as the heads of the domestic policy, national economic and national trade councils. The director of legislative affairs and White House counsel also are men.
The highest ranking women include Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president; Dina Habib Powell, senior counselor for economic initiatives; and K.T. McFarland, deputy national security adviser.
The White House said in a statement provided to USA TODAY that overall, when other White House staff are taken into account, the ratio of men to women is “nearly the same.”
“President Trump has made empowering women in the workplace a priority for decades,” the White House said. “He has always been at the forefront of hiring and promoting women for top positions, both at his company and most recently on his campaign and now in his administration. As president, he is working to lessen or remove some of the unique barriers that prevent women from fully participating in the workforce, while also creating new opportunities for success for all Americans.”
Meghna Sabharwal, a professor of public and nonprofit management at the University of Texas at Dallas who has researched presidential appointments, said having a representative bureaucracy is important: “We are very diverse, and the diversity numbers keep going up in the U.S. So do the expectations that our bureaucrats will look like us or will mirror the demographic makeup of the society so they can reflect those values and preferences.”
Trump appointed a woman, Conway, to serve as his camstaffers. paign manager.
His daughter Ivanka has indicated she will play a role in elevating women’s issues, although she is not a White House employee.
Powell was a Goldman Sachs partner and leading voice on women’s issues before joining Trump’s White House staff.
Other women among Trump’s hires are Omarosa Manigault, a former “Apprentice” contestant who is now director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison at the White House; Katie Walsh, deputy chief of staff; and Hope Hicks, strategic communications director.
Experts say Trump should hire more women and minorities in the West Wing because it sends a signal that there are many highly qualified women and people of color who can perform those jobs, and it also makes for better policy decisions.
“The quality of decisions reflects the mix of people in the room,” said Paul Light, professor of public service at New York University who has studied presidential appointments.