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Kristi Noem is gone from the Department of Homeland Security and Pam Bondi is on her way out the door at the Justice Department.
It’s not unusual for a president to shake up the cabinet ahead of crucial elections.
And that appears to be the case right now for President Donald Trump, who’s saddled with underwater approval ratings and an unpopular war ahead of this year’s crucial midterm elections, when Republicans are working to hold onto their slim House and Senate majorities.
The big question going forward: Who may be next on Trump’s chopping block.
PAM BONDI ALREADY FIRED AS ATTORNEY GENERAL, CABINET OFFICIAL TEED UP AS REPLACEMENT: SOURCES
U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by FBI Director Kash Patel, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Sen. Bill Hagerty, speak during an event to sign a memorandum to send federal resources to Memphis, Tennessee, for a surge against local crime, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., Sept. 15, 2025. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
The White House is pushing back against reporting that other cabinet secretaries may soon be given pink slips. But it’s worth noting that Trump announced in a social media post that he was letting Bondi go hours after media reports first crossed that the attorney general’s job was in jeopardy.
Here’s a look at three cabinet members that media reports suggest could possibly be in the president’s crosshairs.
Tulsi Gabbard
The director of national intelligence may have earned Trump’s ire by failing to condemn former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent after his abrupt exit from the administration last month after criticizing the president’s move to strike Iran.
Gabbard, a former Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for her party’s 2020 presidential nomination before crossing over and supporting Trump in the 2024 election and a military veteran who deployed to the Iraq War two decades ago, has not been as vocally supportive of the current conflict with Iran as others in the cabinet.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats at the Hart Senate Office Building on March 18, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
In backing Gabbard, Trump last weekend pointed to her stance on Iran and said, “I think she’s probably a little bit softer on that issue, but that’s okay.”
Pushing back forcefully against speculation that Gabbard may be next to go, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung on Thursday said, “President Trump has total confidence in Director Gabbard, and any insinuation otherwise is totally fake news.”
“The President has assembled the most talented and impactful Cabinet ever, and they have collectively delivered historic victories on behalf of the American people.,” Cheung touted.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Trump’s labor secretary is under investigation by the Labor Department’s inspector general over numerous allegations, including drinking alcohol while working and having an affair with a security officer.
Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer is cracking down on reported H-1B abuse. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The resignation of some of her top aides has not helped matters.
Howard Lutnick
The president’s commerce secretary is a longtime Trump ally.
But there’s speculation Lutnick may be on thin ice after admitting in February he traveled with his family to Jeffrey Epstein’s private Caribbean island in 2012, four years after Epstein was convicted of child sex trafficking.
Howard Lutnick, commerce secretary, participates in a roundtable in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 10. (Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg)
Lutnick previously denied having any relationship with Epstein and stated that he “barely had anything to do with that person.”
The White House is denying that either Lutnick or Chavez-DeRemer are in hot water.
“Secretaries Chavez-DeRemer and Lutnick are both doing a great job standing up for American workers, and they continue to have President Trump’s full support,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told .
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But a source in the president’s political orbit didn’t rule out further changes in Trump’s cabinet.
“The president is reshaping his team and his message is clear: loyalty is expected but performance is mandatory,” the source told .
