United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs - wikipedia United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs Secretary of Veterans Affairs of the United States of America Seal of the Department of Veterans Affairs Flag of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs Incumbent David Shulkin since February 14, 2017 United States Department of Veterans Affairs Style Mr. Secretary Member of Cabinet Reports to The President Seat Washington, D.C. Appointer The President 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 Deputy Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Salary Executive Schedule, level 1 Website www.VA.gov The United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs is the head of the U.S. 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 ). 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 United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs or any other person designated by the President serves as Acting Secretary until the President nominates and the United States Senate confirms a new Secretary. Contents 1 List of Secretaries of Veterans Affairs 2 Living former Secretaries of Veterans Affairs 3 See also 4 References List of Secretaries of Veterans Affairs Parties No party ( 2 ) Democratic ( 2 ) Republican ( 5 ) Status Denotes acting Secretary No. Portrait Name State of Residence Took Office Left Office President ( s ) Ed Derwinski Illinois March 15, 1989 September 26, 1992 George H.W. Bush -- Anthony Principi Acting California September 26, 1992 January 20, 1993 Jesse Brown Illinois January 22, 1993 July 1, 1997 Bill Clinton -- Hershel W. Gober Acting Arkansas July 1, 1997 January 2, 1998 Togo D. West, Jr. District of Columbia January 2, 1998 May 5, 1998 May 5, 1998 July 25, 2000 -- Hershel W. Gober Acting 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 Acting Florida October 1, 2007 December 20, 2007 6 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 Acting Alabama May 30, 2014 July 30, 2014 8 Bob McDonald Ohio July 30, 2014 January 20, 2017 -- Robert Snyder Acting West Virginia January 20, 2017 February 14, 2017 Donald Trump 9 David Shulkin Pennsylvania February 14, 2017 Incumbent Anthony Principi served as acting secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs September 26, 1992 -- January 20, 1993. Hershel W. Gober served as acting secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs July 1, 1997 -- January 2, 1998 and July 25, 2000 -- January 20, 2001. West served as acting Secretary from January 2, 1998 to May 5, 1998. Gordon H. Mansfield served as acting secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs October 1 -- December 20, 2007. Living former Secretaries of Veterans Affairs See also : List of living former members of the United States Cabinet As of October 2017, there are six living former Secretaries of Veterans Affairs, the oldest being Jim Nicholson ( served 2005 - 2007, born 1938 ). The most recent Secretary of Veterans Affairs to die was Ed Derwinski ( served 1989 - 1992, born 1926 ), on January 15, 2012. The most recently serving Secretary to die was Jesse Brown ( served 1993 - 1997, born 1944 ) on August 15, 2002. Name Term of office Date of birth ( and age ) Togo D. West, Jr. 1998 -- 2000 ( 1942 - 06 - 21 ) June 21, 1942 ( age 75 ) Anthony Principi 2001 -- 2005 ( 1944 - 04 - 16 ) April 16, 1944 ( age 73 ) Jim Nicholson 2005 -- 2007 ( 1938 - 02 - 04 ) February 4, 1938 ( age 79 ) James Peake 2007 -- 2009 ( 1944 - 06 - 18 ) June 18, 1944 ( age 73 ) Eric Shinseki 2009 -- 2014 ( 1942 - 11 - 28 ) November 28, 1942 ( age 74 ) Robert A. McDonald 2014 -- 2017 ( 1953 - 06 - 20 ) June 20, 1953 ( age 64 ) See also Administrator of Veterans Affairs ( United States ) United States Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration References Jump up ^ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/19 Jump up ^ Public Law 109 - 177 §. 503 ^ Jump up to : 38 U.S.C. § 304 : Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Accessed 2008 - 01 - 13. Jump up ^ `` Gober Takes Over Top Spot at VA '' ( Press release ). Department of Veterans Affairs. July 25, 2000. Retrieved September 29, 2009. Jump up ^ `` President Clinton Names Togo D. West, Jr. As Acting Secretary Of The Department Of Veterans ' Affairs '' ( Press release ). White House. December 2, 1997. Retrieved September 9, 2009. Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ UPI. Peake sworn in as VA secretary, Dec 20, 2007. Accessed 21 Dec 2007. Current U.S. order of precedence ( ceremonial ) Preceded by Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education Order of Precedence of the United States as Secretary of Veterans Affairs Succeeded by Vacant as Secretary of Homeland Security Current U.S. presidential line of succession Preceded by Secretary of Education Betsy Devos 17th in line Succeeded by Secretary of Homeland Security Vacant United States Secretaries of Veterans Affairs Derwinski Brown West Gober ( acting ) Principi Nicholson Peake Shinseki McDonald Shulkin Agencies under the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Headquarters : 810 Vermont Avenue NW ( Veterans Affairs Department Building ) David Shulkin, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Thomas G. Bowman, Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Board of Veterans ' Appeals Center for Women Veterans Office of Acquisition and Material Management Office of Information and Technology Office of Occupational Safety and Health Office of Policy, Planning and Preparedness Office of Regulation Policy and Management Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization VA Police Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health Veterans Health Administration Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Benefits Veterans Benefits Administration Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial Affairs National Cemetery Administration Leaders of the United States federal executive departments Current Agriculture Commerce Defense Education Energy Health and Human Services Homeland Security Housing and Urban Development Interior Justice Labor State Transportation Treasury Veterans Affairs Past Commerce and Labor Health, Education, and Welfare Navy Post Office War Presidential line of succession in the United States of America Vice President ( Mike Pence ) Speaker of the House of Representatives ( Paul Ryan ) President pro tempore of the Senate ( Orrin Hatch ) Secretary of State ( Rex Tillerson ) Secretary of the Treasury ( Steven Mnuchin ) Secretary of Defense ( James Mattis ) Attorney General ( Jeff Sessions ) Secretary of the Interior ( Ryan Zinke ) Secretary of Agriculture ( Sonny Perdue ) Secretary of Commerce ( Wilbur Ross ) Secretary of Labor ( Alex Acosta ) Secretary of Health and Human Services ( Eric Hargan ) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development ( Ben Carson ) Secretary of Transportation ( Elaine Chao ) Secretary of Energy ( Rick Perry ) Secretary of Education ( Betsy DeVos ) Secretary of Veterans Affairs ( David Shulkin ) Secretary of Homeland Security ( Elaine Duke ) Jump up ^ Although Elaine Chao is the current Secretary of Transportation, she is not a natural - born citizen ( acquired U.S. citizenship by naturalization ) and thus ineligible for the Presidency. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Secretary_of_Veterans_Affairs&oldid=792836855 '' Categories : Lists of members of the Cabinet of the United States United States Department of Veterans Affairs Cabinet of the United States United States Secretaries of Veterans Affairs Talk Contents About Wikipedia Esperanto Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית 日本 語 Norsk Polski Русский Simple English Svenska Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 29 July 2017, at 01 : 05. About Wikipedia

Question: who is the head of the veterans administration
Answer: David Shulkin