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Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals | |
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![]() Agency Seal | |
![]() Personal flag of the Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs, of which the Chairman ranks as | |
Board of Veterans Appeals | |
Style | Chairman (informal) The Honorable (formal) |
Reports to | Secretary of Veterans Affairs |
Seat | Washington, D.C. |
Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
Term length | 6 years No restriction on renewal |
Constituting instrument | Sec 4001 of Pub. L. 85–857, H.R. 9700, 72 Stat. 1241, enacted September 2, 1958, as amended |
Deputy | Vice Chairman |
Salary | Executive Schedule, Level IV $176,300 USD (January 2022) |
Website | https://www.bva.va.gov |
The Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is a senior position within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs that is responsible for the operation and policies of the Board of Veterans' Appeals, which is the administrative tribunal within the department responsible for holding hearings and issuing decisions on behalf of the Secretary regarding veterans' claims for benefits and services.
The Chairman ranks equivalent to a department Assistant Secretary and is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate for a six-year term, must be appointed as a Veterans Law Judge, and must be a licensed attorney in good standing in a state or territory.
The current Chairman is Jaime Areizaga-Soto of Virginia, who was nominated by President Joe Biden on April 25, 2022 [1] and confirmed by the Senate on August 4, 2022. [2] He replaced Cheryl L. Mason of Virginia, the first woman and military spouse to serve in this post and scheduled to serve until 2023, but only served through August 4, 2022 due to the confirmation of a new chairman prior to the end of her term. General Areizaga-Soto's term will expire in 2028.
Beginning in 2011 and continuing up until the appointment of Chairman Mason in 2017 as the 10th Chairman and 4th politically appointed Chairman, the Board was led by several leaders appointed as the Board's Vice Chairman, which is appointed by the Secretary of VA. Although President Obama nominated former Chief Veterans Law Judge Constance B. Tobias to replace the retired James P. Terry. in the second session (2012) of the 112th Congress, as well as both the 1st (2013) and 2nd (2014) sessions of the 113th Congress, the Senate never acted on her nomination beyond a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in November 2013, [3] and her nominations were returned to the President at the end of each session.
Chairman name | Assumed office | Left office | Appointed by | Agency executive [note 1] |
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John G. Pollard | 1934 | 1937 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Frank T. Hines |
Robert L. Jarnagin | 1937 | 1957 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Frank T. Hines |
James W. Stencil | 1957 | 1971 | Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon | Sumner G. Whittier John S. Gleason Jr. William J. Driver Donald E. Johnson |
Lawrence R. Pierce, Jr. | 1971 | 1974 | Richard Nixon | Donald E. Johnson |
Sydney J. Shuman | 1974 | 1981 | Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter | Richard L. Roudebush Max Cleland |
Kenneth E. Eaton | 1982 | 1991 | Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush | Robert Nimmo Harry N. Walters Thomas K. Turnage Edward Derwinski |
Charles Cragin | March 1991 | March 1997 | George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton | Ed Derwinski |
Eligah D. Clark | November 1998 | November 2004 | Bill Clinton George W. Bush | Togo D. West, Jr. Anthony Principi |
James P. Terry | July 2005 | February 2011 | George W. Bush Barack Obama | Jim Nicholson James Peake Eric Shinseki |
Steven L. Kelley Vice Chairman /Executive in Charge [note 2] | February 2011 | June 2013 | Barack Obama | Eric Shinseki |
Laura H. Eskenazi Vice Chairman / Executive in Charge [note 2] | June 2013 | July 2016 | Eric Shinseki | |
Carol A. DiBattiste Vice Chairman / Executive in Charge [note 2] | August 2016 | January 2017 | Bob McDonald | |
David C. Spickler Vice Chairman / Executive in Charge [note 2] | February 2017 | October 2017 | Donald Trump | David Shulkin |
Cheryl L. Mason | November 2017 | August 4, 2022 | Donald Trump Joe Biden | David Shulkin Robert Wilkie Denis McDonough |
Kenneth A. Arnold Vice Chairman / Acting Chairman [note 3] | August 4, 2022 | September 15, 2022 | Joe Biden | Denis McDonough |
Jaime Areizaga-Soto | September 15, 2022 | Incumbent | Joe Biden | Denis McDonough |
Notes
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