Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security

The assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security is the head of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security in the United States Department of State. The assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security reports to the under secretary of state for management.

United States Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security
Seal of the Bureau of Diplomatic Security
Flag of an assistant secretary of state
Incumbent Paul R. Houston[1] Acting  since June 2, 2025
Reports to	The under secretary of state for management
Nominator	The president of the United States
Inaugural holder	Robert E. Lamb
Formation	1987
Website	Official website

Assistant secretaries of state for diplomatic security, 1987—present

#	Name	Assumed office	Left office	President appointed by
1	Robert E. Lamb	June 19, 1987	August 9, 1989	Ronald Reagan
2	Sheldon J. Krys	August 9, 1989	August 7, 1992	George H. W. Bush
3	Anthony C. E. Quainton	September 23, 1992	December 29, 1995	George H. W. Bush
4	Eric J. Boswell	January 5, 1996	January 31, 1998	Bill Clinton
-	Patrick F. Kennedy (acting)	January 31, 1998	August 11, 1998	Bill Clinton
5	David G. Carpenter	August 11, 1998	June 29, 2002	Bill Clinton
6	Francis X. Taylor	November 18, 2002	February 19, 2005	George W. Bush
7	Richard J. Griffin	June 22, 2005	November 1, 2007	George W. Bush
-	Gregory B. Starr (acting)	November 1, 2007	July 7, 2008	George W. Bush
8	Eric J. Boswell	July 7, 2008	December 19, 2012[2]	George W. Bush, Barack Obama
-	Scott Bultrowicz (acting)	December 19, 2012	November 18, 2013	Barack Obama
9	Gregory B. Starr	November 18, 2013	January 20, 2017	Barack Obama
-	Bill Miller (interim)[3]	January 21, 2017	June 27, 2017	N/A
-	Christian J. Schurman (acting)	June 27, 2017	November 3, 2017	N/A
10	Michael Evanoff	November 3, 2017	July 24, 2020	Donald Trump[4]
-	Todd J. Brown (acting)	August 1, 2020	August 12, 2021	N/A
11	Gentry O. Smith	August 12, 2021	January 20, 2025	Joe Biden
-	Carlos Matus (acting)	January 20, 2025	May 30, 2025	Donald Trump
-	Paul R. Houston (Senior Bureau Official)	June 2, 2025	Incumbent	Donald Trump