Experts

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas

Practitioner Senior Fellow
TenpasVitaSEPT2020.pdf

Fast Facts

  • Director of the Katzmann Initiative and visiting fellow with Governance Studies, the Brookings Institution
  • Advisory board member, White House Transition Project
  • Fellow, Center for Presidential Transition at the Partnership for Public Service

Areas Of Expertise

  • The First Year
  • Governance
  • Elections
  • Leadership
  • Politics
  • The Presidency

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas is director of the Katzmann Initiative and a visiting fellow with Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution, advisory board member of the White House Transition Project, and a fellow with the Center for Presidential Transition at the Partnership for Public Service.

Tenpas is a scholar of the American presidency focusing on White House staffing, presidential transitions, and the intersection of politics and policy within the presidency (e.g., presidential reelection campaigns, trends in presidential travel, and polling). She has authored the book Presidents as Candidates: Inside the White House for the Presidential Campaign and published more than 60 articles, book chapters, and papers on these topics.

Tenpas earned her BA degree from Georgetown University and her MA and PhD degrees from the University of Virginia.

Featured Publications

Presidents as Candidates
Presidents as Candidates

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas News Feed

Government Executive
Almost One Year In: Biden’s Track Record on Nominations and Confirmations
Meanwhile, there are “historic levels of gender and racial/ethnic diversity among the Biden confirmed appointees,” said a report by Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, nonresident senior fellow for governance studies at the Brookings Institution, on the administration’s 300-day mark, which came in November.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Government Executive
FNN
Why is the Biden Administration taking so long to staff up?
The Biden administration is moving at a snail’s pace to staff itself. Slower in fact than the last three administrations. That’s according to analysis done by Katie Tenpas, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. The Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke to Tenpas about her findings.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Federal News Network
CNN
Joe Biden’s nominees are facing a Senate blockade
Joe Biden’s nominees are facing a Senate blockade — led by Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas CNN
Bloomberg Government
Democrats Rush to Confirm Biden Picks as Year-End Deadline Looms
A recent Brookings analysis also said Biden’s nominees are advancing at a “snail’s pace.” But Kathryn Dunn Tenpas said her analysis shows Biden’s commitment to diversity represents a “historic breakthrough.” Tenpas said that at the 300-day mark women represent half of the 140 confirmed appointees, and 39% of the nominees are nonwhite.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Bloomberg Government
The Hill
GOP holds on Biden nominees set back gains for women in top positions
As of Nov. 17, 50 percent of Biden’s nominees the Senate has confirmed have been women. That’s compared to 23 percent in the same time frame under the Trump administration and 29 percent in the Obama administration, according to data compiled by Kathryn Tenpas, a nonresident senior fellow with the Brookings Institution.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas The Hill
Brookings
Biden’s confirmations progress at the 300-day mark
The Biden administration’s effort to staff the federal government is proceeding at a snail’s pace compared to previous administrations. Such a leadership vacuum inhibits the administration’s ability to implement their agenda, and while the Senate plays a key role in the process and pace, it is the president who suffers most from this incredibly slow pace.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Brookings