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 in charge of taking care of the affairs of  war veterans. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and second to last at 17th in the line of succession to the presidency (the position was last until the United States Department of Homeland Security was added in 2006). To date, all appointees and acting appointees to the post have been United States military veterans, but that is not a requirement to fill the position.

When the position of Secretary is vacant, the United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs or another person picked by the President serves as Acting Secretary until the President picks and the United States Senate confirms a new Secretary.

## List of secretaries of veterans affairs

- Parties
 (2)
 (3)
 (6)

- Status

|rowspan=2||colspan=3|Secretary|colspan=3|Term of office|colspan=2 rowspan=2|President(s)|||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|||Illinois|March 15, 1989|September 26, 1992||rowspan=2 style="background: ;"||rowspan=2|(1989–1993)|||||||
|||California|September 26, 1992|January 20, 1993||||||||||||
|||Illinois|January 22, 1993|July 13, 1997||rowspan=5 style="background: ;"||rowspan=5|(1993–2001)|||||||
|||Arkansas|July 13, 1997|January 2, 1998||||||||||||
|rowspan=2||rowspan=2||rowspan=2|District of Columbia|style="background:#e6e6aa;"|January 2, 1998|style="background:#e6e6aa;"|May 4, 1998|style="background:#e6e6aa;"||||||
|May 4, 1998|July 25, 2000|||||||||||||||
|||Arkansas|July 25, 2000|January 20, 2001||||||||||||
|||California|January 23, 2001|January 26, 2005||rowspan=4 style="background: ;"||rowspan=4|(2001–2009)|||||||
|||Colorado|January 26, 2005|October 1, 2007||||||||||||
|||Florida|October 1, 2007|December 20, 2007||||||||||||
|||District of Columbia|December 20, 2007|January 20, 2009||||||||||||
|||Hawaii|January 20, 2009|May 30, 2014||rowspan=3 style="background: ;"||rowspan=3|(2009–2017)|||||||
|||Alabama|May 30, 2014|July 30, 2014||||||||||||
|||Ohio|July 30, 2014|January 20, 2017||||||||||||
|style="background:#E6E6AA;"||style="background:#E6E6AA;"||style="background:#E6E6AA;"|West Virginia|style="background:#E6E6AA;"|January 20, 2017|style="background:#E6E6AA;"|February 14, 2017|style="background:#E6E6AA;"||rowspan=5 style="background: ;"||rowspan=5|(2017–2021)|
|||Pennsylvania|February 14, 2017|March 28, 2018||||||||||||
|||North Carolina|March 28, 2018|May 29, 2018||||||||||||
|||Virginia|May 29, 2018|July 30, 2018||||||||||||
|||North Carolina|July 30, 2018|January 20, 2021||||||||||||
|style="background:#E6E6AA;"||style="background:#E6E6AA;"||style="background:#E6E6AA;"|Ohio|style="background:#E6E6AA;"|January 20, 2021|style="background:#E6E6AA;"|February 9, 2021|style="background:#E6E6AA;"||rowspan=2 style="background: ;"||rowspan=2|(2021–2025)|
|||Minnesota|February 9, 2021|January 20, 2025||||||||||||
|style="background:#E6E6AA;"||style="background:#E6E6AA;"||style="background:#E6E6AA;"||style="background:#E6E6AA;"|January 20, 2025|style="background:#E6E6AA;"|February 5, 2025|style="background:#E6E6AA;"||rowspan=2 style="background: ;"||rowspan=2|(2025–present)|
||Doug Collins|Georgia|February 5, 2025|_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 13, 1997 – January 2, 1998 and July 25, 2000 – January 20, 2001.

West served as Acting Secretary from January 2, 1998 to May 4, 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

As of September 2025, there are eight living former secretaries of education, the oldest being Jim Nicholson (served 2005-2009). The most recent death of a former secretary of state was that of Togo D. West Jr. (served 1998-2000) on March 8, 2018.

## Infobox (official post)

- **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
- **image**: Official portrait of Douglas Collins, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs.jpeg
- **incumbent**: Doug Collins (politician), Doug Collins
- **incumbentsince**: February 5, 2025
- **department**: United States Department of Veterans Affairs
- **style**: Mr. Secretary (informal)
The Honourable#United States, 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 United States Senate, Senate advice and consent
- **termlength**: No fixed term
- **formation**: March 15, 1989
- **first**: Ed Derwinski
- **succession**: United States presidential line of succession, Seventeenth
- **deputy**: United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- **salary**: Executive Schedule, Executive Schedule, level I