Anyone keeping up with the Trump administration must be familiar with one name: Karoline Leavitt. Leavitt has become one of its most recognizable faces as Trump’s White House Press Secretary; however, she recently announced her resignation from the position. What makes this concerning is the fact that the Trump administration has lost nearly half of its female senior officials in the first six months of its second term.
Considering the abnormally high number of women departing the cabinet and the misogynistic rhetoric the MAGA movement has consistently spread, it is evident that the Trump administration hires women not to value their political voices, but to pander to their female voter base when necessary.
Leavitt, the most recent resignation, served as the White House press secretary beginning with the president’s inauguration in January 2025 and announced her resignation in August 2026. Her sudden departure from the role is surprising, considering she has been enormously vocal on her support for the administration and even entered heated arguments with reporters. Leavitt has been known to insult journalists from media organizations that criticize governmental action, calling their questions “stupid” and calling reporters “leftwing hacks.”
Leavitt became one of the main faces of the Trump administration, unabashedly defending even its most controversial decisions. This persona was carefully created by the administration, using Leavitt as a more palatable female messenger for unpopular messaging.
Her reputation makes her resignation all the more surprising — the image Leavitt curated was that of a dedicated and loyal government employee. In her resignation message, Leavitt expressed her desire to focus on her family and be “the best mom to her two young children.” However, when taken in the context of the misogynistic policies and attitudes the MAGA movement has consistently perpetuated, this is no surprise.
Some of the outdated policies they have endorsed directly target women’s rights, such as freezing Title X healthcare funding. Others take a more indirect approach, such as the proposed SAVE Act. This act could restrict married women’s ability to vote, as it would make it harder for women who changed their maiden names to provide the identity verification documents necessary to attain a voter ID. The movement has also presented women’s sole societal purpose as bearing children and becoming a mother. While a meaningful part of life for many women, the Trump administration has pushed policy that would put motherhood above the mother herself. From pushing no-exception abortion bans to taking an aggressively pronatalist approach, the current government has made it clear that motherhood is less of a choice rather than it is a patriotic duty.
While the Trump administration prided itself on the number of women in its administration, it is clear the MAGA movement does not consider women to be meaningful contributors in political spaces. Leavitt’s resignation may initially seem innocuous, however, upon further inspection, this recent resignation is part of a larger pattern. Former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was fired this March, and former Attorney General Pam Bondi was fired this April. The administration has lost four of its female senior advisors in its first six months. Two, Bondi and Noem, were fired while the other two, Tulsi Gabbard and Lori Chavez-DeRemer, resigned from their positions. Leavitt now makes the most recent resignation. Whether these resignations were fully willing is uncertain, but it is undeniable that the MAGA movement puts pressure on women to fit their own societal standards.
Trump’s administration pushes legislation that ultimately hurts women and reverses social progress. But the question may then be raised, if the administration is working against women’s progress, why would they have so many women in high-ranking positions in the first place?
The answer comes down to voter demographics. Women make up a substantial part of the current American voter base; in 2024 elections, more women voted than men. It would be foolish for a party to ignore such a large portion of the population. However, the support MAGA and the current administration shows is performative. A groundbreaking number of female senior officials may be women, but slowly, they are weeded out. While they are allowed to vote, women are encouraged to support Republicans. But after election season, legislation like the SAVE Act aims to restrict that very right.
While female officials in the White House continue to slowly disappear, it is vital to acknowledge that the sheer presence of women within a movement does not necessarily lend them credibility. The women in his administration may have used their positions to gain power, fame and wealth, but they ultimately could not gain the respect of their own political peers. The Trump administration uses them as political tools and as a means of virtue signaling towards female voters, not in order to empower women and amplify their voices.
Shanaaz Faisal is an Opinion Intern for the summer 2026 quarter. She can be reached at shanaazf@uci.edu.
Edited by Ruby Goodwin
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