Experts

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas

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.

Kathryn Dunn Tenpas News Feed

President Trump has been awarding trusted aides with more than one job. But how does this affect the function of those positions?
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas NPR
The percentage of women among Trump’s confirmed nominees is about half that of Bush, Obama, and Trump’s first term, and much lower than Biden’s.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas The Brookings Institution
The situation Trump faces is hardly unique to his White House. Blocking diplomatic nominees is now a common tactic. “This is just not unique to Trump,” said Tenpas.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Semafor
“What has happened in this administration, is that there is more of a focus on Cabinet secretary loyalty, as opposed to their prior experience,” said Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, a presidential scholar and senior research fellow at both the Miller Center and the Brookings Institute.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas Deseret News
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas details the cabinet confirmation process and explains some of the challenges President-elect Trump’s controversial picks could face.
Kathryn Dunn Tenpas NBC News
A panel of political experts gathered at the Miller Center to weigh in on Trump’s transition into his presidency.
Eric Edelman, Mara Rudman, Kathryn Dunn Tenpas, and William Antholis 29 News