Some term-limited political appointees are waiting until the last minute to announce their resignation, such as IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, who announced today that he will step down to make way for Trump pick former Rep. Billy Long.

Some appointees haven’t resigned, citing the set term limits that come with the position. Werfel’s term hadn’t expired yet, and the main reason for his departure is the new administration.

Cabinet secretaries like the secretary of state don’t have fixed terms and are traditionally nominated by the incoming president. Those positions have high turnover depending on if a new president is elected every four years.

FBI Director Christopher Wray was a controversial holdover who played coy for a while about whether he’d step down. He led the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago in 2022, leading to Trump disdaining him. He announced in December his intention to resign before Inauguration Day. Trump has nominated Kash Patel as Wray’s replacement.

Department of Justice Special Counsel Jack Smith came even closer to running out the clock, announcing his decision to step down just last week. Smith played a major role in Trump’s prosecution in his classified documents case and the Jan. 6 Capitol attack investigation.

Other major department chairs like the Federal Trade Commission’s Lina Khan face murkier futures.

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance praised her in the past for her trust-busting ways, saying she was “one of the few people in the Biden administration that I think is doing a pretty good job.” That led to speculation that Trump and Vance would keep Khan on in a new administration.

Trump quickly proved that false with his appointment of Andrew Ferguson as head of the FTC. This will remove Khan as chairwoman when Trump is inaugurated, but she will be able to stay on as a commissioner at the FTC if she chooses until her successor, Republican antitrust attorney Mark Meador, is confirmed by the Senate.

Until then, Ferguson will preside over a 3-2 Democratic majority that will stunt his power until Meador can be confirmed, which could take months. The commission requires a vote from the five members to reach a decision on major actions or litigation.

“Our sense is she’s trying to stick around to have as much influence as she can on these ongoing cases. She’ll lose that influence once she’s not chair,” Beacon Policy Advisors analyst Owen Tedford told Barron’s.

Khan isn’t the only chair that hasn’t taken the hint from the incoming administration. EEOC general counsel Karla Gilbride, who is the chief of the agency that oversees employers fairness laws that prevent discrimination, is expected to step down or be fired in the coming weeks.

Republican Commissioner Andrea Lucas will then become chair, and an anti-DEI emphasis is expected at the agency.

Other leaders expected to be on their way out include Kristin Clarke, the assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. Trump will replace her with conservative Harmeet Dhillon, pending her confirmation, saying she “stood up consistently to protect our cherished Civil Liberties.”

He also praised her work “suing corporations who use woke policies to discriminate against their workers.”

The National Labor Relations Board will be reorganized under a Trump presidency as well. While Democratic Chairwoman Gwynne Wilcox is likely to remain for the moment, Trump will nominate two new Republican members to the board in 2025 and name an acting chair to replace Wilcox.

The only current Republican Board member, Marvin Kaplan, is expected to be named acting chairman. With the completed nominations of two Republicans and Kaplan, Republicans will have a majority and the chair of the NLRB.