Executive Control and Turnover in the Senior Executive Service

Abstract

If presidents wish to see their policy priorities implemented, they need control over key decision-making positions often occupied by career executives. This article examines whether political conflict with a new administration drives career executives from their positions. This can happen because presidents target specific individuals or because career professionals anticipate conflict and strategically exit before a new president takes office. To assess this dynamic, we use novel data that combine individual survey responses with personnel records to analyze the probability that an agency executive departs her position from March 2015 to July 2017. Given our findings that turnover is driven by both presidential marginalization and strategic exit by bureaucrats, we conclude with implications for presidential efforts to control the bureaucracy.