Brookings Institution Visiting Fellow, Director of the Initiative on Improving Interbranch Relations and Gov’t, Senior Fellow at UVA’s Miller Center

Washington, D.C.
Joined August 2014
Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
One year into this second Trump presidency, high level staff and Cabinet turnover is significantly lower than it was in 2017. "If you look at what is the core of the stability, it was the emphasis that they put on loyalty in hiring," says @kdtenpas. zurl.co/UKYk1
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
Staffing is one of the president’s most powerful tools, shaping how government works. @chris_piper and @kdtenpas argue that Trump’s second-term staffing reflects tighter planning and loyalty demands, while eroding long-standing guardrails. brookings.edu/articles/asses…
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
Around 1,340 presidential appointees require Senate confirmation—a process that has long meant time-consuming roll call votes. @chris_piper and @kdtenpas recommend that reform-minded senators reduce the number of jobs requiring confirmation. brookings.edu/articles/will-…
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
Trump’s confirmed executive branch nominees remain the least ethnically diverse in 25 years. The percentages are similar to his first term but differ sharply from those in the first 200 days of the Bush, Obama, and Biden administrations. Learn more: brookings.edu/articles/the-s…
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
Four months into Trump’s second term, Congress and the courts are navigating a wave of executive orders and sweeping agency changes. Join us on May 21 for a webinar on how U.S. institutions are responding—and where checks and balances stand. RSVP: brookings.edu/events/four-mo…
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
Trump did much better this time than his first term in getting top nominees confirmed in his first 100 days and in fact did better than Biden and Bush 43 did in the same timeframe as well, according to new data from @kdtenpas brookings.edu/articles/the-f…
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
President Trump’s second-term Cabinet confirmations outpaced three of the last four administrations, but diversity among nominees declined significantly, reflecting his broader rollback of DEI efforts. More from @kdtenpas: brookings.edu/articles/the-f…
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
The judiciary has long checked executive power, but Trump's policies pose a new challenge. On Democracy in Question, @kdtenpas and Ben Wittes explore key pending court cases along with the statutory/constitutional questions they raise. 🎧 Listen: brookings.edu/articles/is-it…
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
“What has happened in this administration, is that there is more of a focus on Cabinet secretary loyalty, as opposed to their prior experience.” Less than half of Trump's Cabinet members have degrees from elite institutions, discusses @kdtenpas. zurl.co/V8fXi
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Our Embassy hosted a fireside chat yesterday with the Executive Council on Diplomacy @on_diplomacy to unpack the 2025 US presidential transition. Thank you @MichaelEOHanlon and @kdtenpas of the @BrookingsInst for sharing your insights with my fellow ambassadors and diplomats.
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
The next president could tip the balance in the federal judiciary. @BrookingsInst's Russell Wheeler tells @IanPrasad why in this @nytimes piece. nytimes.com/2024/10/31/brief…
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In this week’s episode of #TransitionLab, @Kdtenpas, director of the Katzmann initiative and an advisory board member of the White House transition project, discusses the role of political appointees in the federal government and the pathway to getting these jobs. Listen here: presidentialtransition.org/p…
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
"As so often in other dimensions of American history, in our democracy the front line of defense is the American people," says @NormEisen in a new episode of Democracy in Question with @kdtenpas and @qjurecic. 🎧 Listen here: brookings.edu/articles/how-d…
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
The ultimate safeguard to dis-, mis-, & malinformation is the American people As so often in our history, citizens are the first line of defense for US democracy @kdtenpas & I discuss how to protect our democracy from corruption & foreign threats👇-TN brookings.edu/articles/how-d…
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Dr. Katie Dunn Tenpas retweeted
When will we know? Big thanks to my intern Laura Howard, and to @MillerCenter designer Dave Courtney for these two infographics.
From Election Day to Inauguration Day, two charts (done with David Courtney and Laura Howard.) First, counting absentee + mail-in ballots.
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