Three Trump Officials Leave Posts as Ballots Are Counted, Signaling Possible Administration Exodus

Three prominent officials in the Trump administration have left their posts since election day on November 3 in what could be a last-minute shake up as President Donald Trump fights for the White House.

The president is behind former Vice President Joe Biden in several key states, including Pennsylvania, which is all-important to his re-election bid. Biden leads him with 264 electoral college votes to 214, according to data from the Associated Press.

On Saturday, U.S. Special Envoy to Syria James Jeffrey announced that he had retired and had been replaced by Joel Rayburn, who had served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Levant Affairs since 2018, according to Kurdish media network Rudaw and Arabic media reports.

Jeffrey, a 74-year-old career diplomat, has served in the position since January, 2019 following the resignation of his predecessor, Brett McGurk in December, 2018.

No immediate reason was given for his decision so soon after the election. Jeffrey had previously said neither candidate would change U.S. policy toward Syria.

Jeffrey is the second official to resign in as many days. On Friday, Lisa Gordon-Hagerty, head of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) resigned. She was also under secretary of energy for nuclear security.

"As Administrator, Ms. Gordon-Hagerty oversaw the modernization of NNSA's infrastructure and the strengthening of its world-class workforce," the Department of Energy said in a statement. "She also made significant strides in improving NNSA governance and management and demonstrated a sincere dedication to the 50,000 men and women serving in the national security workforce."

There is no evidence to suggest that the resignations were related to the election or the president. Separately, however, the Trump administration made changes in other areas of the government.

Trump demoted Neil Chatterjee, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday. A Republican, he will remain a commissioner but will be replaced as chairman by James Danly, who joined the FERC in March. Chatterjee may have been demoted because of his support for clean energy.

"I knew when I embarked on this path that there could be blowback," he told CNN on Friday. "I'm speculating, but if in fact this demotion is the result of blowback, I'm completely at peace with it. I did the right thing. I'm proud of it. I slept great last night."

Bonnie Glick, deputy administrator at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) was ousted on Friday, according to CNN. It is understood she was removed so that the acting administrator John Barsa could fill her post.

Barsa's time as acting head of USAID is due to expire under the terms of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. The White House reportedly told Glick she had to resign or face termination. One source told CNN Glick did not consider resigning.

"[The] President has designated Mr. Barsa as the Acting Deputy Administrator of USAID, and he will begin those duties this evening and continue to lead the Agency in this new capacity," USAID said Friday.

It's not clear if these personnel changes are connected or what that would mean if they were. There has been significant turnover in the Trump administration, according to the Brookings Institution. The president has fired many senior officials over the past four years.

Newsweek has contacted the Departments of State and Energy, USAID and FERC for comment.