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Trump's cabinet has fewer lawyers than in past administrations

President Donald Trump. Evan El-Amin / Shutterstock, Inc.

The number of lawyers in President Donald Trump’s cabinet trails that of the past four presidents.

There are just two lawyers in current cabinet positions: Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the Wall Street Journal reports. Another lawyer, Florida International University law dean R. Alexander Acosta, is awaiting confirmation as secretary of labor.

In the past four administrations, lawyers accounted for about 40 to 70 percent of 16 cabinet positions, the article reports. At the beginning of President Barack Obama’s presidency, seven cabinet positions were filled by lawyers. At the end, 11 were filled by lawyers. The article also notes that Obama was a Harvard law grad.

Temple University law professor Craig Green provides a reason why Trump is choosing fewer lawyers. Law grads are trained to rely on tradition and institutions, and to think about change in an incremental way, he told the Wall Street Journal.

“It’s not too surprising that a Trump administration that seeks change outside the establishment would tend to value legal training less than some of his predecessors,” he said.