Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs

United States
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs
United States; Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs
ASD(LA)
	Seal of the United States Department of Defense
	Flag of an assistant secretary of defense
	Incumbent; Dane Hughes ; Acting since January 20, 2025
	United States Department of Defense ; Office of the Secretary of Defense
Style	Mr Assistant Secretary; (informal); The Honorable ; (formal)
Reports to	United States Secretary of Defense
Seat	The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia
Appointer	The president ; with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	10 U.S.C. § 138
Inaugural holder	Marx Leva
Formation	1947
Salary	Executive Schedule Level IV
Website	Official website

Last updated July 19, 2025

The assistant secretary of defense for legislative affairs, or ASD(LA), is responsible for providing support to the secretary of defense (SecDef) in his/her dealings with the United States Congress. In addition to serving as SecDef's legislative adviser, the ASD(LA) promotes the Department of Defense's strategy, legislative priorities, policies, and budget before Congress. In carrying out these responsibilities, the ASD(LA) directs a team of managers, action officers, and support personnel who help direct, monitor and manage communications and activities between Congress and elements of the Department of Defense.^[2] The ASD(LA) is considered a part of the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

History

This office was established as Special Assistant (Legal, Legislative, and Public Affairs) upon the creation of the National Military Establishment in 1947 (the NME was renamed the Department of Defense in 1949). This was one of three special assistants to the first secretary of defense.^[3]

The post was retitled Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legal and Legislative Affairs) in August 1949 based on amendments to the National Security Act (P.L. 81-216) that authorized three assistant secretaries of defense.^[3]

The position was abolished in 1953, with its functions divided and transferred to the general counsel and the assistant secretary of defense (legislative and public affairs), new posts established as the result of DoD Reorganization Plan No. 6 (June 1953) and Defense Directive 5122.1 (September 1953).^[3]

This position was abolished again in 1957, with its functions divided and transferred to Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs), new posts established by Defense Directive 5105.13 (August 1957).^[3]

Since 1957, the responsibilities of this position have stayed mostly constant, but the title has changed between Assistant Secretary of Defense and Assistant to the Secretary of Defense five times, largely because the secretary of defense has historically been authorized a limited number of assistant secretaries. ^{[nb 1]} The position was given statutory standing as the assistant secretary of defense (legislative affairs) by the National Defense Authorization Act for FY1994 (P.L. 103-160), passed November 30, 1993.^[3]

Officeholders

The table below includes both the various titles of this post over time, as well as all the holders of those offices.

Assistant secretaries of defense (legislative affairs)^[3]
Name	Tenure	SecDef(s) served under	President(s) served under
Special Assistant (Legal, Legislative, and Public Affairs)
Marx Leva	September 18, 1947 – September 11, 1949	James V. Forrestal	Harry Truman
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legal and Legislative Affairs)
Marx Leva	September 12, 1949 - May 1, 1951	Louis A. Johnson George C. Marshall	Harry Truman
Daniel K. Edwards	May 3, 1951 - November 19, 1951	George C. Marshall Robert A. Lovett	Harry Truman
Charles A. Coolidge	November 20, 1951 - December 31, 1952	Robert A. Lovett	Harry Truman
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative and Public Affairs)
Frederick A. Seaton	September 15, 1953 - February 20, 1955	Charles E. Wilson	Dwight Eisenhower
Robert Tripp Ross	March 15, 1955 - February 20, 1957	Charles E. Wilson	Dwight Eisenhower
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs)
Brig. Gen. Clarence J. Hauck, Jr.	April 1957 - April 1959	Charles E. Wilson Neil H. McElroy	Dwight Eisenhower
George W. Vaughan	April 1959 - March 1960	Neil H. McElroy Thomas S. Gates	Dwight Eisenhower
Brig. Gen. James D. Hittle	March 1960 - November 1960	Thomas S. Gates	Dwight Eisenhower
Norman S. Paul	January 25, 1961 - June 30, 1962	Robert S. McNamara	John F. Kennedy
David E. McGiffert	August 8, 1962 - June 30, 1965	Robert S. McNamara	John F. Kennedy Lyndon Johnson
Jack L. Stempler	December 13, 1965 - January 4, 1970	Robert S. McNamara Clark M. Clifford Melvin R. Laird	Lyndon Johnson Richard Nixon
Richard G. Capen, Jr.	January 5, 1970 - May 1, 1971	Melvin R. Laird	Richard Nixon
Rady A. Johnson	May 2, 1971 - March 10, 1973	Melvin R. Laird Elliot L. Richardson	Richard Nixon
Col. George L.J. Dalferes (Acting)	March 17, 1973 - April 17, 1973	Elliot L. Richardson	Richard Nixon
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs)
John O. Marsh	April 17, 1973 - February 15, 1974	Elliot L. Richardson James R. Schlesinger	Richard Nixon
John M. Maury	April 12, 1974 - February 28, 1976	James R. Schlesinger Donald Rumsfeld	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford
William K. Brehm	March 19, 1976 - January 20, 1977	Donald Rumsfeld	Gerald Ford
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs)
Jack L. Stempler	March 23, 1977 - January 19, 1981	Harold Brown	Jimmy Carter
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs)
Russell A. Rourke	May 6, 1981 - December 8, 1985	Caspar W. Weinberger	Ronald Reagan
M. D. B. Carlisle	August 4, 1986 - April 28, 1989	Caspar W. Weinberger Frank C. Carlucci III William H. Taft IV (Acting)	Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush
David J. Gribbin III	May 22, 1989 - January 18, 1993	Richard B. Cheney	George H. W. Bush
Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs)
Sandra K. Stuart	August 1, 1993 - September 15, 1994	Leslie Aspin, Jr. William J. Perry	Bill Clinton
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs)
Sandra K. Stuart	September 15, 1994 - February 27, 1999	William J. Perry William S. Cohen	Bill Clinton
John K. Veroneau	March 2, 1999 - November 10, 1999 (Acting) November 10, 1999 - February 16, 2001	William S. Cohen	Bill Clinton George W. Bush
Powell A. Moore	May 4, 2001 - December 1, 2004	Donald Rumsfeld	George W. Bush
Daniel R. Stanley^[4]	December 1, 2004 - June 30, 2005 (Acting) June 30, 2005 - January 31, 2006	Donald Rumsfeld	George W. Bush
Robert Wilkie ^[5]	January 31, 2006 - September 29, 2006 (Acting) September 29, 2006 - January 19, 2009	Donald Rumsfeld Robert M. Gates	George W. Bush
Elizabeth L. King	May 7, 2009 - October 7, 2015	Robert M. Gates Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel Ash Carter	Barack Obama
Stephen C. Hedger	October 8, 2015 - July 5, 2016	Ash Carter	Barack Obama
Tressa S. Guenov (Acting)	July 5, 2016 - January 19, 2017	Ash Carter	Barack Obama
Pete Giambastiani (Acting)	January 20, 2017 - August 8, 2017	James Mattis	Donald Trump
Robert R. Hood	August 8, 2017 - July 24, 2020^[6]	James Mattis Mark Esper Richard V. Spencer	Donald Trump
Ann Thomas "A.T." Johnston (Acting)	July 27, 2020 - January 20, 2021^[7]	Mark Esper Christopher C. Miller	Donald Trump
Louis I Lauter (Acting)	January 20, 2021 - April 5, 2022	David Norquist Lloyd Austin	Joe Biden
Thomas J. Mancinelli (Acting)	April 5, 2022 - December 2, 2022	Lloyd Austin	Joe Biden
Rheanne Wirkkala	December 2, 2022 - January 20, 2025	Lloyd Austin	Joe Biden
Dane Hughes (Acting)	January 20, 2025 - Present	Pete Hegseth	Donald Trump

Budget

Budget totals

The annual budget for the ASD(LA) is contained in the OSD's budget, under the Defense-Wide Operation and Maintenance (O&M) account. The Obama administration cut funding for this position by over 37% in FY12.

ASD(LA) Budget, FY 11-12 ($ in thousands) ^[8]
Line Item	FY11 Estimate	FY12 Request
Assistant Secretary of Defense, Legislative Affairs	789	495

Notes

↑ This type of apparently minor, yet bureaucratically significant, distinction is sometimes satirized in popular culture. For example, on NBC's The Office, Dwight Schrute is a self-described "assistant regional manager," but is always corrected by his boss to be an "assistant to the regional manager.

References

↑ "5 U.S. Code § 5315 - Positions at level IV".
↑ Assistant Secretary of Defense Legislative Affairs, Home, "https://la.defense.gov/", February 1, 2011
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Department of Defense Key Officials" (PDF). Historical Office, OSD. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
↑ "www.GovExec.com - The Decision Makers: Defense Department (8/26/05)". www.govexec.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2005.
↑ Loyola University New Orleans Office of Public Affairs, "Robert L. Wilkie Named Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs" Press Release http://www.loyno.edu/news/story/2006/10/18/1112
↑ "Robert Hood - Pentagon Revolving Door". Project On Government Oversight. Retrieved 27 February 2021.
↑ "Ann Thomas (A.T.) Johnston". www.defense.gov.
↑ "Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)" (PDF). Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), OSD. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2011-08-29.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[4] This type of apparently minor, yet bureaucratically significant, distinction is sometimes satirized in popular culture. For example, on NBC's The Office, Dwight Schrute is a self-described "assistant regional manager," but is always corrected by his boss to be an "assistant to the regional manager.

[1] "5 U.S. Code § 5315 - Positions at level IV".

[2] Assistant Secretary of Defense Legislative Affairs, Home, "https://la.defense.gov/", February 1, 2011

[multiple-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Department of Defense Key Officials" (PDF). Historical Office, OSD. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-02-01.

[5] "www.GovExec.com - The Decision Makers: Defense Department (8/26/05)". www.govexec.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2005.

[6] Loyola University New Orleans Office of Public Affairs, "Robert L. Wilkie Named Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs" Press Release http://www.loyno.edu/news/story/2006/10/18/1112

[pogo-7] "Robert Hood - Pentagon Revolving Door". Project On Government Oversight. Retrieved 27 February 2021.

[8] "Ann Thomas (A.T.) Johnston". www.defense.gov.

[9] "Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)" (PDF). Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), OSD. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-20. Retrieved 2011-08-29.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[nb 1]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]