The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is a Cabinet-level executive branch department of the federal government charged with integrating life-long healthcare services to eligible military veterans at the 1700 VA medical centers and outpatient clinics located throughout the country. Non-healthcare benefits include disability compensation, vocational rehabilitation, education assistance, home loans, and life insurance; and provides burial and memorial benefits to eligible veterans and family members at 135 national cemeteries.
Elaine Lan Chao is an American businesswoman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Chao served as Secretary of Transportation in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2021, and as Secretary of Labor in the Bush administration from 2001 to 2009.
Leo Sidney Mackay Jr. is an American businessman, and a former deputy secretary of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
The Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs is a senior position within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs that directs the National Cemetery Administration, which maintains 150 national cemeteries and provides burial services for veterans of the United States military and eligible family members.
Barbara McConnell Barrett is an American politician, businesswoman, attorney and diplomat who served as the United States secretary of the Air Force from 2019 to 2021. She is also an instrument-rated pilot, and cattle and bison rancher.
Heather Ann Nauert is an American broadcast journalist and former government official who served as Spokesperson for the United States Department of State in the Donald Trump administration from 2017 to 2019. She is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a conservative think tank.
The Under Secretary for Benefits, in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, directs the Veterans Benefits Administration through regional offices in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. The Under Secretary is responsible for the administration of benefits provided by the Department to veterans and dependents, including compensation, pension, education, home loan guaranty, vocational rehabilitation, and life insurance.
Robert Leon Wilkie Jr. is an American lawyer and government official who served as the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2018 to 2021, during the Trump administration. He was previously Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness during the Trump administration, from November 2017 to July 2018. An Naval intelligence in the Reserve, he was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs in the administration of President George W. Bush.
David Jonathon Shulkin is an American physician and former government official. In 2017, Shulkin became the ninth United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs and served under President Donald Trump. He was the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health from 2015 until 2017, appointed by President Barack Obama. On March 28, 2018, President Trump dismissed Shulkin from his position by tweet, and announced that Physician to the President Ronny Jackson would be nominated as Shulkin's successor, although Jackson's nomination was withdrawn on April 26, 2018, after allegations surfaced of misconduct and mismanagement while serving in the White House. He was succeeded by Under Secretary of Defense Robert Wilkie.
The Board of Veterans' Appeals is an administrative tribunal within the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), located in Washington, D.C. It determines whether U.S. military veterans are entitled to claimed veterans' benefits and services. The Board's mission is to conduct hearings and decide appeals properly before the Board in a timely manner. 38 United States Code (U.S.C.) § 7101 (a). The Board's jurisdiction extends to all questions in matters involving a decision by the Secretary under a law that affects a provision of benefits by the Secretary to Veterans, their dependents, or their Survivors. 38 U.S.C. §§ 551(a); 7104(a). Final decision on such appeals are made by the Board based on the entire record in the proceedings and upon consideration of all evidence and applicable provisions of law and regulation. The Board's review is de novo.
The Veterans' Access to Care through Choice, Accountability, and Transparency Act of 2014, also known as the Veterans Choice Act, is a United States public law that is intended to address the ongoing Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014. The law expanded the number of options veterans have for receiving care and granted the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs more power to fire senior executives. The Veterans Health Administration scandal of 2014 began with the discovery that there was on-going systematic lying by the Veterans Health Administration about the wait times veterans experienced waiting to be seen by doctors. By June 5, 2014, Veterans Affairs internal investigations had identified a total of 35 veterans who had died while waiting for care in the Phoenix VHA system. Another audit determined that "more than 57,000 veterans waited at least 90 days to see a doctor, while another 63,000 over the last decade never received an initial appointment."
LaVerne H. Council, MBA, DBA was the Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology and Chief Information Officer for the Office of Information and Technology within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Council assumed this role in July 2015, taking over for Deputy CIO Stephen Warren. President Obama nominated Council to the role in March 2015. Council was confirmed by the 114th Congress on June 23, 2015, making Council the first female CIO of a Cabinet-level federal agency. She managed a $4.2B Information Technology (IT) appropriation, the first centralized and only IT appropriation in the federal government.
Danny Ray Brouillette is an American government official and businessman who served as the United States Secretary of Energy from 2019 to 2021. He previously served as the Deputy Secretary of Energy from August 2017 to December 2019.
Thomas Gerald Bowman is an American political aide and retired Marine Corps Colonel who served as the United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs from August 10, 2017 to June 15, 2018 when he retired from active federal service.
James Michael Byrne is an American lawyer who served as the United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs from September 2019 to February 2020 and as Acting Deputy Secretary from August 2018 to September 2019. He previously served as the general counsel for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.
Brenda Wren Burman is an American attorney and government official who served as commissioner of the United States Bureau of Reclamation from 2017 to 2021. Prior to assuming that position, she served as director of water strategy at the Salt River Project. Burman served in the George W. Bush administration as Deputy Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science. She has previously held positions with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, The Nature Conservancy, and U.S. Senator Jon Kyl.
Ronny Lynn Jackson is an American physician, politician, and retired United States Navy rear admiral who is the U.S. representative for Texas's 13th congressional district.
Maura Sullivan is a military veteran and former government official. Sullivan previously served as an official in the Obama Administration from 2014 to 2016 in both the Veterans Administration and the U.S. Department of Defense. She also served on the American Battle Monuments Commission starting in 2010, and began her career as an officer in the United States Marine Corps serving in the Iraq War after the September 11th attacks.
The Mar-a-Lago Crowd, also Mar-a-Lago Three, was an informal council organized by US President Donald Trump which oversaw many of the activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Despite not holding any official position, the Mar-A-Lago Crowd were seen as key architects of the Administration's veterans policy.
Dat P. Tran is an American civil servant who served as the principal deputy assistant secretary for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Enterprise Integration and was the acting United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs from January 20 to February 9, 2021.
