The number of women working for the Trump administration, specifically in top national security roles, keeps falling.
That finding comes from a new report by Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The October 30 report, titled “Trump’s War on Women: The Systematic Dismantling of Decades of Progress at Home and Abroad During the Administration’s Second Term,” demonstrates a sharp drop in the number of women in diplomatic and national security posts in what it calls “the deliberate unraveling of U.S. support for women and girls globally.”
The report explains that there has been a drastic reduction in the number of women ambassadors and military leaders since the start of Donald Trump’s second term. While institutional politics are fading, it also says that only 13% of U.S. diplomatic missions are now led by women, down from nearly half before the president returned to office.
Given international programs aimed at supporting women—such as the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Office of Global Women’s Issues (GWI)—have been dismantled under Trump, a sharp decline in women’s roles has been seen too. But the report explains that foreign aid cuts have disproportionately targeted women and girls, canceling 88% of maternal and child health funding, 94% of sexual and reproductive health funding, and nearly 80% of gender-based violence prevention and response funding.
Lastly, in what the report calls “the advancement of a political ideology that deliberately excludes women,” it explains that women’s rights are being systematically erased. It cites the expansion of the “global gag rule,” which prohibits recipients of certain U.S. global health funds from using said funds for abortion counseling or referrals. And it restricts the promotion of gender-affirming care and restricts certain diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and racial justice programs.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, who commissioned the new research, said in the report: “For decades, the United States has recognized that the status of women and girls is closely tied to global stability and security.” But in Trump’s second term, he has worked to dismantle “the diplomatic and foreign assistance infrastructure built to carry out these laws,” she said.“By eliminating USAID [the United States Agency for International Development], slashing foreign assistance, and gutting offices focused on supporting women, he has ended programs that kept girls in school, provided health care, and protected them from violence and human trafficking,” Shaheen continued. “Supporting women and girls is not separate from advancing American interests—it is how we prevent conflict, strengthen our partners, and compete.”
The newly released report also referenced findings from a June report from the Center for American Women in Politics (CAWP), which found that women only hold four out of 23 Cabinet or Cabinet-level positions in the current administration—just 17.4%. Women held 52% of these roles at the peak of the Biden administration (and 45% across all four years), whereas the current administration’s representation peaked at 35% before a recent wave of departures. Meanwhile, only eight out of 201 candidates for senior military roles this year were women, and just 35 out of 206 State Department nominees were women.
Beyond government appointments, the report also highlighted a “failure to invest” in both girls’ education and child marriage prevention, warning this lack of funding could lead to $2.5 trillion in losses by 2040. Additionally, it stated that global deaths among children younger than 5 rose in 2025 due to Trump administration aid cuts—marking the first time this century the figure trended in the wrong direction.
The Democrats’ report comes shortly after Katie Zacharia, Trump’s press secretary who succeeded Karoline Leavitt, was asked to step down after just five days in the role. It also comes after Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was the U.S. ambassador to Greece, was ousted just weeks ago.
Prior to Guilfoyle’s departure, four other cabinet-level officials—Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer—departed within a period of just three months.
All four of the high-ranking women were replaced by men.
Last year, Trump bragged that his administration had “more women in our cabinet than any Republican president in the history of our country.” But after the flurry of departures, that’s far from true. Currently, there are only four women in cabinet roles: Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
In a statement to CBS News on the new report’s findings, White House spokesperson Olivia Wales defended the administration, saying, “President Trump is a champion for women and moms across this country.”
