Experts

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas

Practitioner Senior Fellow
TenpasVitaSEPT2020.pdf

Fast Facts

  • Director, Initiative on Improving Interbranch Relations and Government and visiting fellow with Governance Studies, Brookings Institution
  • Host, Democracy in Question podcast, Brookings Institution
  • Advisory board member, White House Transition Project 

Areas Of Expertise

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

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas is director of the Initiative on Improving Interbranch Relations and Government and a visiting fellow with Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution. She is also an advisory board member of the White House Transition Project.

A recent recipient of a Packard Foundation grant, Tenpas is a scholar of the American presidency focusing on White House staffing and turnover and presidential transitions. She also studies interbranch relations, particularly the complex relationship between federal courts and Congress. She is the author of Presidents as Candidates: Inside the White House for the Presidential Campaign and has published more than 80 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

Newsweek
Why Ron Klain's Exit as Chief of Staff is a 'Huge Loss' for Joe Biden
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution, told The Times that finding a suitable replacement for Klain "will not be easy and may well be impossible" due to his skill set and track record. "They are headed into a re-election campaign that also increases Ron's value in that he has campaign experience and political skills," Tenpas said. "In addition, the chief of staff's Capitol Hill experience could come in handy as they confront divided government."
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Newsweek
NYT
Ron Klain Expected to Step Down as Biden’s White House Chief of Staff
“He is a truly unique chief of staff,” said Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a presidential scholar at the Brookings Institution who studies administration personnel. Mr. Klain’s broad experience in multiple administrations as well as on Capitol Hill, his reputation for managing tough political challenges and his long history with Mr. Biden made him the most important figure in the White House besides the president.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas The New York Times
WSJ
Biden’s Cabinet Expected to Stay in Place for Now as Campaign Nears
“It’s surprising because with each passing administration there’s heightened media scrutiny and opportunities for personal scandals” that could lead to cabinet resignations, said Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a senior fellow at Brookings who studies the White House. “But it has been a pretty low-key cabinet.”
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas The Wall Street Journal
Brookings
The Biden “A-Team” after 24 months: A significant uptick in year two departures
After a highly stable first year in office, the Biden administration experienced a substantial increase in senior staff turnover. The significant uptick in “A-Team” departures moved from five individuals departing in year one to 21 in year two.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Brookings
POLITICO
They can’t quit Joe
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a nonresident senior fellow at The Brookings Institution who studies White House staff turnover, said that, so far, 40 percent of Biden’s “A-team” — a group of 66 influential staff positions Tenpas has identified as core advisers — has turned over. However, some are still part of the administration, including senior adviser ANITA DUNN, who left and then returned, and White House counsel STUART DELERY, who was initially deputy counsel before being promoted.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas POLITICO
screenshot of event title and photograph of former Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton
America's tradition: the peaceful transfer of power
David Marchick joins New York Times Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker, former assistant to President Trump Chris Liddell, and Miller Center Practitioner Senior Fellow Katie Dunn Tenpas to discuss the long-held American tradition of peaceful presidential transitions.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Miller Center Presents