The Trump administration’s failure to make gender parity a priority—though it has touted its achievements in naming women to high-level positions, has never cited it as a personnel goal—played a role too. “My broad impression is that Donald Trump and his top advisers don’t place any semblance of gender parity or equality at the top of their list of goals,” said Lawless. “It’s just that it doesn’t occur to them—they are not at all interested in ensuring that they continue to make the progress that the Obama administration had made. And so when they come across a name of somebody that they think would be qualified, or that they think is a legitimate occupant for that position, they appoint that person regardless of sex.” (The Trump administration did not respond to questions about the Atlantic analysis, or how it chose candidates for appointments. When previously asked about diversity in appointments, it has pointed to the women who hold Cabinet positions.)

Then there is the way that Trump himself chooses his aides and advisors, with an emphasis on individuals who “look the part” and on personal connections. “It’s not necessarily surprising that you have the chief economic adviser, or at least the soon-to-be departing chief economic adviser, as somebody who is male, and you have a secretary of treasury who is male, and so forth,” said Lilly J. Goren, a political scientist at Carroll University. “Those are the expectations. And when the president of the United States talks about his potential secretary of state having to look a certain way, then he too is casting an image of what that person is supposed to look like.”

More broadly—and perhaps more importantly—conservatives as a group care less about gender balance, pushing against identity as a meaningful heuristic on its own. “We know that identity politics is hollow, and the left has it as their only rallying cry,” said Shorey. “To sit there and look at this analysis and think it’s complete and an accurate representation is shortsighted. You’re talking about things where it’s never been 50-50! To land that at the foot of this Republican administration—this is why so many conservatives write off the news as ‘fake news.’ Stop it and relax, and be excited for these amazing women.” She added that she felt that the media condescended to Republican women, by arguing that they voted against their own self-interest and by implying that the party had a problem with women in general.

The important thing is whether the administration has been effective, argued Jody Rushton, the president of the National Federation of Republican Women. “As a women’s organization, we champion women,” she said. “But our first and foremost requirements of a candidate are to meet the requirements. Someone who’s ethical. Someone who’s conservative. Someone who’s strong. What should come first is that you should elect or appoint quality candidates. It shouldn’t matter what color you are. It shouldn’t matter if you’re male or female. You’ve got to fit our requirements.” She added that Rex Tillerson, Trump’s unceremoniously fired secretary of state, had not been a good administration official because of his lack of loyalty, whereas Haspel was “tough. She’s smart. She is loyal to conservative politics and to Trump. There’s nothing better.”