United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs

The United States secretary of veterans affairs is the head of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the department concerned with veterans' benefits, health care, and national veterans' memorials and cemeteries. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet and second to last at seventeenth^[2] in the line of succession to the presidency (the position was last until the addition of the United States Department of Homeland Security in 2006^[3]). Until the appointment of David Shulkin in 2017, all appointees and acting appointees to the post were United States military veterans, but that is not a requirement to fill the position.

United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Seal of the department
Flag of the secretary
Incumbent Denis McDonough since February 9, 2021
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Style	Mr. Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Member of	United States Cabinet
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The President of the United States with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	38 U.S.C. § 303
Formation	March 15, 1989
First holder	Ed Derwinski
Succession	Seventeenth[1]
Deputy	United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Salary	Executive Schedule, level I
Website	VA.gov

When the post of secretary is vacant, the deputy secretary^[4] or any other person designated by the president serves as acting secretary^[4] until the president nominates and the United States Senate confirms a new secretary.

Denis McDonough is currently serving as the 11th secretary of veterans affairs since February 9, 2021 under President Joe Biden.

List of secretaries of veterans affairs

Parties

  No party (2)   Democratic (3)   Republican (6)

Status

  Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs

No.	Secretary			Term of office			President(s)
	Portrait	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	Term length
1		Ed Derwinski	Illinois	March 15, 1989	September 26, 1992	3 years, 195 days		George H. W. Bush (1989–1993)
–		Anthony Principi[1] Acting	California	September 26, 1992	January 20, 1993	116 days
2		Jesse Brown	Illinois	January 22, 1993	July 13, 1997	4 years, 172 days		Bill Clinton (1993–2001)
–		Hershel W. Gober[2] Acting	Arkansas	July 13, 1997	January 2, 1998	173 days
3		Togo D. West Jr.	District of Columbia	January 2, 1998[3]	May 4, 1998	122 days
				May 4, 1998	July 25, 2000	2 years, 82 days
–		Hershel W. Gober[2] Acting	Arkansas	July 25, 2000	January 20, 2001	179 days
4		Anthony Principi	California	January 23, 2001	January 26, 2005	4 years, 3 days		George W. Bush (2001–2009)
5		Jim Nicholson	Colorado	January 26, 2005	October 1, 2007	2 years, 248 days
–		Gordon H. Mansfield[4] Acting	Florida	October 1, 2007	December 20, 2007	80 days
6		James Peake	District of Columbia	December 20, 2007	January 20, 2009	1 year, 31 days
7		Eric Shinseki	Hawaii	January 20, 2009	May 30, 2014	5 years, 130 days		Barack Obama (2009–2017)
–		Sloan D. Gibson Acting	Alabama	May 30, 2014	July 30, 2014	61 days
8		Bob McDonald	Ohio	July 30, 2014	January 20, 2017	2 years, 174 days
–		Robert Snyder Acting	West Virginia	January 20, 2017	February 14, 2017	25 days		Donald Trump (2017–2021)
9		David Shulkin	Pennsylvania	February 14, 2017	March 28, 2018	1 year, 42 days
–		Robert Wilkie Acting	North Carolina	March 28, 2018	May 29, 2018	62 days
–		Peter O'Rourke Acting	Virginia	May 29, 2018	July 30, 2018	62 days
10		Robert Wilkie	North Carolina	July 30, 2018	January 20, 2021	2 years, 174 days
–		Dat Tran Acting	Ohio	January 20, 2021	February 9, 2021	20 days		Joe Biden (2021–2025)
11		Denis McDonough	Minnesota	February 9, 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 317 days

¹ Anthony Principi served as Acting Secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs September 26, 1992 – January 20, 1993.

² Hershel W. Gober served as Acting Secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs July 13, 1997 – January 2, 1998 and July 25, 2000 – January 20, 2001.^[5]

³ West served as Acting Secretary from January 2, 1998^[6] to May 4, 1998.^[7]

⁴ Gordon H. Mansfield served as Acting Secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs October 1 – December 20, 2007.^[8]

See also

• Administrator of Veterans Affairs
• Veterans Health Administration

References

1. "3 U.S. Code § 19 - Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act".
2. "Order of presidential succession | USAGov". www.usa.gov. Retrieved November 7, 2024.
3. Public Law 109-177 §.503
4. 38 U.S.C. § 304: Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Accessed January 13, 2008.
5. "Gober Takes Over Top Spot at VA" (Press release). Department of Veterans Affairs. July 25, 2000. Archived from the original on July 13, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
6. "President Clinton Names Togo D. West Jr. As Acting Secretary Of The Department Of Veterans' Affairs" (Press release). White House. December 2, 1997. Archived from the original on October 5, 2006. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
7. Staff (May 1999). "The Honorable Togo D. West Jr". United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Archived from the original on March 4, 2000. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
8. UPI. Peake sworn in as VA secretary Archived February 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, December 20, 2007. Accessed December 21, 2007.

External links

• Official website

U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education	Order of precedence of the United States as Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Succeeded by Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security
U.S. presidential line of succession
Preceded by Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona	17th in line	Succeeded by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas Ineligible