Culture2 min
Women hold 17.4% of Trump's cabinet-level posts, Senate Democrats' report says
A new Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democratic report says women's presence in US diplomacy and national security has fallen sharply, while the White House points to its domestic record.
Women now hold just 17.4% of cabinet and cabinet-level jobs in Donald Trump's second administration, down from 52% under Joe Biden, according to a new report from Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The report also says overseas programmes that support women have been dismantled, including some Trump promoted in his first term.
The numbers, in plain terms. At the Pentagon, only eight of the 201 candidates considered for senior military posts this year were women, about 4%. The report says that is less than half the average of the past decade, and no woman currently serves as an active-duty four-star officer.
Diplomacy shows a similar pattern. Nearly half of Senate-confirmed US ambassadors were women when Trump took office in 2025, but fewer than 25 diplomatic missions are now led by a female ambassador, the analysis found. The report notes that its figures use different measurements and that many posts are empty: the American Foreign Service Association says 93 of 196 ambassadorial positions are unfilled.
At the State Department, women make up 35 of Trump's 206 nominees so far, or 17%. The comparable figure in his first term was 26%. Under Biden, 113 of 245 nominees in the first two years were women, nearly half.
Why Democrats say it matters. Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the committee's top Democrat, commissioned the report. She told CBS News that supporting women and girls is not separate from US interests, but is how America prevents conflict, strengthens partners and competes. The report calls the changes a systematic reversal of past policy and warns they could weaken American influence and put women's lives at risk.
The White House pushes back. Spokesperson Olivia Wales said Trump is a champion for women and mothers. A White House official pointed to domestic moves: the executive order on women's sports, a larger child tax credit, the Trump Accounts child savings programme and a new Women's Health Task Force. The official also named women in senior roles, including chief of staff Susie Wiles, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Education Secretary Linda McMahon, CDC Director Erica Schwartz, Surgeon General Nicole Saphier and FDA Commissioner Heidi Overton.
State Department principal deputy spokeswoman Paloma Chacon said Trump has appointed women to senior diplomatic and departmental posts. She said the department has ended what it considers discriminatory diversity, equity and inclusion hiring and is putting merit first in Foreign Service appointments.
The report is a Democratic document, and the administration disputes its framing. Still, the figures give readers a concrete way to compare who sits at the table when the US makes decisions on security and foreign policy. Read the original report coverage at WION.