# List of Jewish United States Cabinet members

The Cabinet of the United States, which is the principal advisory body to the President of the United States, has had 47 Jewish American members altogether. Of that number, 27 different Jewish American individuals held a total of 27 permanent cabinet posts, having served as the heads of the federal executive departments; 20 different Jewish Americans have held 21 cabinet-level positions, which can differ under each president; and four officeholders served in both cabinet and cabinet-rank roles.
The first Jewish cabinet member was Oscar Straus, appointed Secretary of Commerce and Labor by President Theodore Roosevelt. The first Jewish woman to serve as cabinet member was Penny Pritzker who served as Secretary of Commerce under President Barack Obama. The greatest number of Jewish cabinet members appointed by a president is six by President Bill Clinton, followed by four each by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden.
The highest ranking Jewish cabinet members are Henry Kissinger and Antony Blinken, both of whom served a Secretary of State. Before that, the highest ranking Jewish cabinet member was Henry Morgenthau Jr., who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury, but he was higher ranking in the line of succession. Janet Yellen, who served as Treasury Secretary, is the highest ranking Jewish woman to hold a cabinet post. Two Jewish cabinet secretaries were immigrants to the United States: Kissinger, Secretary of State under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and W. Michael Blumenthal, Secretary of the Treasury under President Jimmy Carter.
The United States Department of the Treasury has had the greatest number of Jewish appointees, with seven. The United States Department of Commerce has had four. The United States Department of Justice has had three. The Departments of State, Defense, Labor, Health, Education, and Welfare, and Homeland Security each have had two. The Departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, and Commerce and Labour (now defunct) have had one each. The Departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and the Interior have had none.
The totals for this list include only Jewish American presidential appointees confirmed (if necessary) by the U.S. Senate to cabinet or cabinet-level positions and taking their oath of office; they do not include acting officials or nominees awaiting confirmation.

## Permanent cabinet members

The following list includes Jewish Americans who have held permanent positions in the cabinet, all of whom are in the line of succession to the presidency. The table below is organized based on the beginning of their terms in office. Officeholders whose terms begin the same day are listed according to the presidential order of succession.
    * denotes the first Jewish holder of that particular office
| No. | Name | Office | Succession | Term start | Term end | Party | Administration(s) |
| 1 | Oscar Straus* | Secretary of Commerce and Labor | 0 | December 17, 1906 | March 5, 1909 | Republican | Roosevelt I |
| 2 | Henry Morgenthau* | Secretary of the Treasury | 3 | January 1, 1934 | July 22, 1945 | Democratic | Roosevelt II |
| 2 | Henry Morgenthau* | Secretary of the Treasury | 3 | January 1, 1934 | July 22, 1945 | Democratic | Truman |
| 3 | Arthur Goldberg | Secretary of Labor | 13 | January 21, 1961 | September 20, 1962 | Democratic | Kennedy |
| 4 | Abraham Ribicoff* | Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare | 13 | January 21, 1961 | July 13, 1962 | Democratic | Kennedy |
| 5 | Wilbur J. Cohen | Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare | 13 | May 16, 1968 | January 20, 1969 | Democratic | Johnson |
| 6 | Henry Kissinger* | Secretary of State | 4 | September 22, 1973 | January 20, 1977 | Republican | Nixon |
| 6 | Henry Kissinger* | Secretary of State | 4 | September 22, 1973 | January 20, 1977 | Republican | Ford |
| 7 | Edward H. Levi* | Attorney General | 7 | January 14, 1975 | January 20, 1977 | Republican | Ford |
| 8 | Harold Brown* | Secretary of Defense | 6 | January 20, 1977 | January 20, 1981 | Democratic | Carter |
| 9 | W. Michael Blumenthal | Secretary of the Treasury | 5 | January 23, 1977 | August 4, 1979 | Democratic | Carter |
| 10 | Neil Goldschmidt* | Secretary of Transportation | 13 | August 15, 1979 | January 20, 1981 | Democratic | Carter |
| 11 | Philip Klutznick | Secretary of Commerce | 10 | January 9, 1980 | January 20, 1981 | Democratic | Carter |
| 12 | Robert Mosbacher | Secretary of Commerce | 10 | January 31, 1989 | January 15, 1992 | Republican | Bush I |
| 13 | Robert Reich | Secretary of Labor | 11 | January 22, 1993 | January 20, 1997 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 14 | Robert Rubin | Secretary of the Treasury | 5 | January 11, 1995 | July 2, 1999 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 15 | Dan Glickman* | Secretary of Agriculture | 9 | March 30, 1995 | January 20, 2001 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 16 | Mickey Kantor | Secretary of Commerce | 10 | April 12, 1996 | January 21, 1997 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 17 | William Cohen | Secretary of Defense | 6 | January 24, 1997 | January 20, 2001 | Republican | Clinton |
| 18 | Lawrence Summers | Secretary of the Treasury | 5 | July 2, 1999 | January 20, 2001 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 19 | Michael Chertoff* | Secretary of Homeland Security | 18 | February 15, 2005 | January 21, 2009 | Republican | Bush II |
| 20 | Michael Mukasey | Attorney General | 7 | November 9, 2007 | January 20, 2009 | Republican | Bush II |
| 21 | Jack Lew | Secretary of the Treasury | 5 | February 28, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | Democratic | Obama |
| 22 | Penny Pritzker | Secretary of Commerce | 10 | June 26, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | Democratic | Obama |
| 23 | Steven Mnuchin | Secretary of the Treasury | 5 | February 13, 2017 | January 20, 2021 | Republican | Trump |
| 24 | David Shulkin* | Secretary of Veteran Affairs | 17 | February 14, 2017 | March 28, 2018 | Independent | Trump |
| 25 | Antony Blinken | Secretary of State | 4 | January 26, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |
| 26 | Janet Yellen | Secretary of the Treasury | 5 | January 26, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |
| 27 | Alejandro Mayorkas | Secretary of Homeland Security | 18 | February 2, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |
| 28 | Merrick Garland | Attorney General | 7 | March 11, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |
| 29 | Howard Lutnick | Secretary of Commerce | 10 | February 21, 2025 | Incumbent | Republican | Trump |

## Cabinet-level officials

The president may designate or remove additional officials as cabinet members. These positions have not always been in the cabinet, so some Jewish American officeholders may not be listed.
The following list includes Jewish Americans who have held cabinet-rank positions, which can vary under each president. They are not in the line of succession and are not necessarily officers of the United States. The table below is organized based on the beginning of their terms in office while it was raised to cabinet-level status. Officeholders whose terms begin the same day are listed alphabetically by last name.
    * denotes the first Jewish holder of that particular office
| No. | Name | Office | Term start | Term start | Party | Administration(s) |
| 1 | Arthur Goldberg* | United States Ambassador to the United Nations | July 28, 1965 | June 24, 1968 | Democratic | Johnson |
| 2 | Robert S. Strauss* | United States Trade Representative | March 30, 1977 | August 17, 1979 | Democratic | Carter |
| 3 | Kenneth Duberstein* | White House Chief of Staff | July 1, 1988 | January 20, 1989 | Republican | Reagan |
| 4 | Mickey Kantor | United States Trade Representative | January 22, 1993 | April 12, 1996 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 5 | John M. Deutch* | Director of Central Intelligence | May 10, 1995 | December 15, 1996 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 6 | Joseph Stiglitz* | Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers | June 28, 1995 | February 10, 1997 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 7 | Janet Yellen | Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers | February 18, 1997 | August 3, 1999 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 8 | Charlene Barshefsky | United States Trade Representative | March 18, 1997 | January 20, 2001 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 9 | Jack Lew* | Director of the Office of Management and Budget | May 21, 1998 | January 19, 2001 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 10 | Joshua Bolten | Director of the Office of Management and Budget | June 26, 2003 | April 14, 2006 | Republican | Bush |
| 10 | Joshua Bolten | White House Chief of Staff | April 14, 2006 | January 20, 2009 | Republican | Bush |
| 11 | Rahm Emanuel | White House Chief of Staff | January 20, 2009 | October 1, 2010 | Democratic | Obama |
| 12 | Peter Orszag | Director of the Office of Management and Budget | January 20, 2009 | July 30, 2010 | Democratic | Obama |
| 13 | Jack Lew | Director of the Office of Management and Budget | November 18, 2010 | January 27, 2012 | Democratic | Obama |
| 13 | Jack Lew | White House Chief of Staff | January 27, 2012 | January 20, 2013 | Democratic | Obama |
| 14 | Alan Krueger | Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers | November 7, 2011 | August 2, 2013 | Democratic | Obama |
| 15 | Michael Froman | United States Trade Representative | June 21, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | Democratic | Obama |
| 16 | Jason Furman | Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers | August 2, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | Democratic | Obama |
| 17 | Ron Klain | White House Chief of Staff | January 20, 2021 | February 8, 2023 | Democratic | Biden |
| 18 | Avril Haines* | Director of National Intelligence | January 21, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |
| 19 | Eric Lander* | Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy | June 2, 2021 | February 18, 2022 | Democratic | Biden |
| 20 | Jeffrey Zients | White House Chief of Staff | February 8, 2023 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |
| 21 | Jared Bernstein | Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers | July 10, 2023 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |
| 22 | Lee Zeldin* | Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency | January 29, 2025 | Incumbent | Republican | Trump |