| Post: | United States Secretary |
| Body: | Veterans Affairs |
| Flag: | Flag of the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs.svg |
| Flagborder: | yes |
| Flagsize: | 130 |
| Flagcaption: | Flag of the secretary |
| Insignia: | Seal of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 120 |
| Insigniacaption: | Seal of the department |
| Incumbent: | Denis McDonough |
| Incumbentsince: | February 9, 2021 |
| Department: | 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 |
| Appointer Qualified: | with Senate advice and consent |
| Termlength: | No fixed term |
| Formation: | March 15, 1989 |
| First: | Ed Derwinski |
| Succession: | Seventeenth[1] |
| Deputy: | United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs |
| Salary: | Executive Schedule, level I |
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 sixteenth 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[2]). 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.
When the post of secretary is vacant, the deputy secretary[3] or any other person designated by the president serves as acting secretary[3] 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.
| Secretary | Term of office | President(s) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | Name | State of residence | Took office | Left office | Term length | |||
| Ed Derwinski | Illinois | March 15, 1989 | September 26, 1992 | George H. W. Bush | ||||
| Anthony Principi | California | September 26, 1992 | January 20, 1993 | |||||
| Jesse Brown | Illinois | January 22, 1993 | July 13, 1997 | Bill Clinton | ||||
| Hershel W. Gober | Arkansas | July 13, 1997 | January 2, 1998 | |||||
| Togo D. West Jr. | District of Columbia | January 2, 1998 | May 4, 1998 | |||||
| May 4, 1998 | July 25, 2000 | |||||||
| Hershel W. Gober | Arkansas | July 25, 2000 | January 20, 2001 | |||||
| Anthony Principi | California | January 23, 2001 | January 26, 2005 | George W. Bush | ||||
| Jim Nicholson | Colorado | January 26, 2005 | October 1, 2007 | |||||
| Gordon H. Mansfield | Florida | October 1, 2007 | December 20, 2007 | |||||
| James Peake | District of Columbia | December 20, 2007 | January 20, 2009 | |||||
| 7 | Eric Shinseki | Hawaii | January 20, 2009 | May 30, 2014 | Barack Obama | |||
| Sloan D. Gibson | Alabama | May 30, 2014 | July 30, 2014 | |||||
| Bob McDonald | Ohio | July 30, 2014 | January 20, 2017 | |||||
| Robert Snyder | West Virginia | January 20, 2017 | February 14, 2017 | Donald Trump | ||||
| 9 | David Shulkin | Pennsylvania | February 14, 2017 | March 28, 2018 | ||||
| Robert Wilkie | North Carolina | March 28, 2018 | May 29, 2018 | |||||
| Peter O'Rourke | Virginia | May 29, 2018 | July 30, 2018 | |||||
| Robert Wilkie | North Carolina | July 30, 2018 | January 20, 2021 | |||||
| Dat Tran | Ohio | January 20, 2021 | February 9, 2021 | Joe Biden | ||||
| Denis McDonough | Minnesota | February 9, 2021 | Incumbent | |||||
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.[4]
West served as Acting Secretary from January 2, 1998[5] to May 4, 1998.[6]
Gordon H. Mansfield served as Acting Secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs October 1 – December 20, 2007.[7]
|-