Cabinet reshuffles are far less common in systems where members of the cabinet are not drawn from the
legislative branch. In such systems there is a far larger pool of viable candidates to choose a cabinet from. Members of such cabinets are usually chosen on account of their qualifications to run a specific portfolio, so moving these cabinet members to different portfolios at a later time usually makes little sense. In the
United States (a
presidential system), it would be very unusual for a president to reassign multiple
cabinet secretaries to new positions, especially since a
U.S. cabinet member moved to a new position within the cabinet needs to be confirmed in the new role by the
United States Senate—this alone is seen as a powerful deterrent against U.S. presidents initiating major cabinet reshuffles. On an individual basis, however, U.S. cabinet members will occasionally change departments—for example,
Federico Peña served as
Secretary of Transportation from 1993 until 1997 in the
Clinton administration and was appointed as
Secretary of Energy directly afterwards, serving until 1998. Likewise
Norman Mineta served as
Secretary of Commerce under
Bill Clinton before becoming
Secretary of Transportation for Clinton's successor,
George W. Bush. In France (a
semi-presidential system within the framework of the contemporary
French Fifth Republic), the
prime minister may tender their resignation to the
president of the Republic, who then selects a successor. The new prime minister then proposes a list of ministers to the president, who may approve the list or request changes. After the list is approved, the new
government is put in office. The same practice may be used to change several ministers in one sweep while retaining the same prime minister, in which case the president simply selects the incumbent as their own successor. Such successive governments with one same prime minister are named after the head of government and numbered (for instance "
Rocard I and "Rocard II" or "
Ayrault I and Ayrault II"). In the Philippines, while under the presidential system, the cabinet is confirmed by the
Commission on Appointments composed of members of
Congress; due to
patronage, the president's appointments are able to be confirmed easier than on other systems. While cabinet reshuffles are still rare, it occurs when the administration loses a midterm election, as what happened most recently in
2025, and after a political scandal, in 2005.
United States •
Saturday Night Massacre •
Halloween Massacre France •
July 2022 French government reshuffle •
July 2023 French government reshuffle Philippines •
2025 Philippine cabinet reshuffle ==In undemocratic systems==