List of U.S. executive branch czars

In the United States, the informal term "czar" (or, less often, "tsar") is employed in media and popular usage to refer to high-level executive-branch officials who oversee a particular policy field. Until 2025, there had never been any U.S. government offices with the formal title "czar". ^{[citation needed]} The earliest known use of the term for a U.S. government official was in the administration of Franklin Roosevelt (1933–1945), during which eleven unique positions (or twelve if one were to count "economic czar" and "economic czar of World War II" as distinct) were so described.^{[citation needed]}

The list of those identified as "czars" is based on subjective judgments, as individuals or offices may be referred to with the nickname by some publications or public figures, while not by others. A more limited (though no less subjective) definition of the term would encompass only those officials appointed without Senate confirmation.

By administration

Summary table

President	Party	In office	Number of czar titles	Number of appointees	Appointees not confirmed by Senate
Franklin D. Roosevelt	Democratic	1933–1945	11	19	18
Harry S. Truman		1945–1953	6		5
Dwight D. Eisenhower	Republican	1953–1961	1		0
Lyndon B. Johnson	Democratic	1963–1969	3		1
Richard Nixon	Republican	1969–1974	3	5
Gerald Ford		1974–1977	2
Jimmy Carter	Democratic	1977–1981	2	3	2
Ronald Reagan	Republican	1981–1989	1
George H. W. Bush		1989–1993	2	3	0
Bill Clinton	Democratic	1993–2001	8	11	7
George W. Bush	Republican	2001–2009	33	49	28
Barack Obama	Democratic	2009–2017	38	50	39
Donald Trump	Republican	2017–2021; 2025–present	5	6	5
Joe Biden	Democratic	2021–2025	4	7	4

The numbers are based upon the sortable list below, which includes further details and references.

Note that the holders of certain official positions have been referred to as "czars" for only part of the time those positions have existed. For example, there has been an Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health since the passage of the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977, but the phrase "mine safety czar" has been applied to the position only since the appointment of Richard Stickler to the post in 2006. Similarly, there has been a director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs since the office was created by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, but the term "regulatory czar" was not applied to the post until 2001.

List of executive branch czars

The following are executive branch officials who have been described by the media as a czar of some kind.

Czar title	Official title	Office holder	Tenure	Type of appointment	Appointing administration	Senate confirmed
AI & Crypto Czar	White House AI & Crypto Czar	David Sacks[1]	2025–present	President appointed	Donald Trump
AfPak czar, Afghanistan and Pakistan czar	Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan	Richard Holbrooke[2]	2009–2010	President appointed	Barack Obama
AIDS czar	National AIDS Policy Coordinator, Member of White House Domestic Policy Council	Kristine Gebbie[3]	1993–1994		Bill Clinton
	Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy	Patricia Fleming[4]	1993–1997
	Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, Presidential Envoy for AIDS Cooperation	Sandra Thurman[5]	1997–2000
	Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy	Scott Evertz[6]	2001–2002		George W. Bush
		Joe O'Neill[7]	2002–2003
		Carol Thompson[8]	2004–2006
		Jeffrey Crowley[9]	2009–2012		Barack Obama
		Grant Colfax[10]	2012–2014
		Douglas Brooks[11]	2014–2016
anti-poverty czar, poverty czar	Director of Office of Economic Opportunity	Sargent Shriver[12]	1965–1969	President nominated, Senate confirmed	Lyndon Johnson	✓
Asian Carp czar	Asian Carp Director, Council on Environmental Quality	John Goss[13]	2010–Unknown	Council on Environmental Quality selected	Barack Obama
auto czar, car czar	Treasury Advisor, Head of the Auto Task Force	Steve Rattner[14]	2009 Feb–Jul	Sec. of Treasury appointed
	Senior Advisor President's Automotive Task Force	Ron Bloom[15]	2009–2011	President appointed
auto recovery czar, autoworker czar	Member Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, Director of Recovery for Auto Communities and Workers	Edward B. Montgomery[16]	2009–Unknown
bank bailout czar, Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) czar	United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability, Senior Advisor to Secretary of the Treasury	Neel Kashkari[17]	2008–2009	(New position), President nominated, Senate confirmed	George W. Bush	✓
bank bailout czar, TARP czar	United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability	Herb Allison[18]	2009–2013	President nominated, Senate confirmed	Barack Obama
bioethics czar	Advisor to the President, Chairman of The President's Council on Bioethics	Leon Kass[19]	2001–2005	(New position), Exec order, President appointed	George W. Bush
bird flu czar	Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, Advisor to the President for Public Health Emergency Preparedness	Stewart Simonson[20]	2004–2006	(New position), President appointed
birth control czar	Deputy Assistant Secretary of Population Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services	Eric Keroack[21]	2006–2007	President appointed
border czar	U.S. attorney and Special Representative for the Southwest Border, Department of Justice	Alan Bersin[22][23]	1995–1998	President nominated, Senate confirmed as U.S. Attorney, Appointed as Special Representative	Bill Clinton	✓
	Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, Special Representative for Border Affairs, Dept of Homeland Security		2009–2011	Sec of Homeland Security appointed	Barack Obama
	Special Assistant to the President and Coordinator for the Southern Border	Roberta S. Jacobson[24]	2021 Jan–Apr	President appointed	Joe Biden
	Executive associate director for Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)[a]	Thomas Homan[25]	2019/2025–present[b]	President appointed	Donald Trump
budget czar	Director of the Office of Management and Budget	Mitch Daniels[27]	2001–2003	President nominated, Senate confirmed	George W. Bush	✓
		Josh Bolten[28]	2003–2006
		Rob Portman[29]	2006–2007
car czar	Chief domestic policy advisor and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council	Bruce Reed[30]	1993–2001	(New position), Exec order, President appointed	Bill Clinton
czar of censorship	Director, Office of Censorship	Byron Price[31]	1941–1945	Exec Order, President appointed	Franklin Roosevelt
cleanup czar	Special Assistant Attorney General (to investigate corruption)	Newbold Morris[32]	1952, fired after 63 days by Attorney General (AG) for demanding records access; AG then forced to resign by President Truman	Attorney General appointed	Harry Truman
	Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, Department of Energy (nuclear cleanup)	Jessie Roberson[33]	2001–2004	President nominated, Senate confirmed	George W. Bush	✓
		James Rispoli[34]	2005–2008	Sec. of Energy appointed, Senate confirmed
climate czar	Assistant to the President and Staff Secretary, President's Coordinator for Climate Change, Senior negotiator at Kyoto and Beuenos Aires negotiations	Todd Stern[35]	1997–1999	President appointed	Bill Clinton
	Special Envoy for Climate Change	Todd Stern[36]	2009	Sec. of State appointed	Barack Obama
climate czar, energy czar, global warming czar	Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change	Carol Browner[37]	2009–2011	(New position)
copyright czar	Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator	vacant; position approved but not filled during Bush administration[38]	2008–2009		George W. Bush
		Victoria Espinel[39]	2009–2013	(first at position)	Barack Obama
communications czar	Counselor to the President, Special counselor to the President	Dan Bartlett[40]	2005–2007	President appointed	George W. Bush
compensation czar, Gulf claims czar, pay czar	Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation	Kenneth Feinberg[41]	2009–2011, 2014–2016?	Sec. of Treasury appointed	Barack Obama
consumer czar	Special Advisor for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau	Elizabeth Warren[42]	2010–2011	(New position), President appointed
COVID-19 czar	Counselor to the President of the United States	Jeff Zients	2021–2022	President appointed	Joe Biden
	White House COVID-19 response coordinator	Ashish Jha	2022–2023
cruise czar	Fact-Finding Officer for the Federal Maritime Commission	Louis E. Sola[43]	2020–2023	President nominated, Senate confirmed	Donald Trump
cyber security czar, cyber czar	Special Advisor to the President on Cybersecurity, Office of Management and Budget (OMB)	Richard A. Clarke[44]	2001 Oct – 2003 Feb	(New position), President appointed	George W. Bush
	Director, National Cybersecurity Center	Rod Beckstrom[45]	2008–2009	(New position), Presidential directive, President appointed
	Director of the White House Office of Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Coordinator	Melissa Hathaway[46]	2009 May–Jul, Acting czar[47]	Office created May 31, 2009.	Barack Obama
		Tom Bossert[48]	2017–2018		Donald Trump
		Robert Joyce[49]	2018
democracy czar	Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy	Elliott Abrams[50]	2005–2008	President appointed	George W. Bush
domestic czar	Special Assistant to the President, domestic policy aide	Joseph Califano[51]	1965–1969		Lyndon Johnson
domestic policy czar	Chief Domestic Policy Coordinator, Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the President, White House Deputy Chief of Staff	Karl Rove[52]	2004–2006		George W. Bush
domestic violence czar	Advisor to the President and the Vice President on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Issues	Lynn Rosenthal[53]	2009	Vice President appointed	Barack Obama
drug czar	Head of Drug programs, Special Action Office of Drug Abuse Prevention	Jerome Jaffe[54]	1971	President appointed	Richard Nixon
	Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and head of the Narcotics Treatment Administration	Robert DuPont	1973–1978		Gerald Ford
	Director of the White House Drug Abuse Policy (1982), Special Assistant to the President for Drug Abuse (1983), Member of Executive Board of the National Narcotics Border Interdiction System Cabinet Level (1983), Deputy Assistant to the President for Drug Abuse Policy (1985)	Carlton Turner[55]	1982–1988	(New position), Exec order, President appointed	Ronald Reagan
	Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy	William Bennett[56]	1989–1990	(New position) created by Congress, President nominated, Senate confirmed	George H. W. Bush	✓
		Bob Martinez[57]	1991–1993	President nominated, Senate confirmed
	Director, National Drug Control Policy	Lee P. Brown[58]	1993–1995		Bill Clinton
		Barry McCaffrey[59]	1996–2001
		John P. Walters[60]	2001–2009		George W. Bush
	Director, National Drug Control Policy (cabinet rank removed)	Gil Kerlikowske[61]	2009–2014		Barack Obama
	Director, National Drug Control Policy	Michael Botticelli[62]	2015–2017
Ebola czar	Ebola Response Coordinator	Ron Klain	2014–2015	President appointed
e-commerce czar, e-czar	Executive Director, Electronic Commerce Working Group	Elizabeth Echols[63]	1998–2000	Vice President appointed	Bill Clinton	✓
economic czar, economic czar of World War II	Director, Office of Economic Stabilization	James F. Byrnes[64]	1942–1943	(New position), Exec order, President appointed	Franklin Roosevelt
economic czar		Fred M. Vinson[65]	1943–1945	President appointed
		William Hammatt Davis[66]	1945–1946
economic czar, big-picture economic czar	Chairman, Economic Recovery Advisory Board	Paul A. Volcker[67]	2009		Barack Obama
energy czar	Director of the Energy Policy Office	John Arthur Love[68]	1973	(New position), Exec order, President appointed	Richard Nixon
	Federal Energy Office Administrator	William E. Simon[69]	1973–1974	President appointed
	Administrator, Federal Energy Administration	John Sawhill[70]	1974
	Administrator, Federal Energy Administration, Assistant to the President for Energy Affairs, Executive Director of Energy Resources Council	Frank Zarb[71]	1974–1977		Gerald Ford
	Director, Department of Energy (cabinet-level position)	James Schlesinger[72]	1977–1979	(New position), Legislation enacted, President nominated, Senate confirmed	Jimmy Carter	✓
ethics czar, transparency czar	Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform	Norm Eisen[73]	2009–2010	(New position), Exec order, President appointed	Barack Obama
	White House Counsel	Robert Bauer[74]	2010–2011	President appointed
faith-based czar, faith czar	Director, White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives	John DiIulio[75]	2001–2002	(New position), Exec order, President appointed	George W. Bush
		Jim Towey[76]	2002–2006	President appointed
		Jay Hein[77]	2006–2008
faith-based czar	Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships	Joshua DuBois[78]	2009–2013		Barack Obama
		Melissa Rogers[79]	2013–2014?
food czar	Food Administrator and Secretary of Agriculture	Claude Wickard[80]	1942–1943	Exec order	Franklin Roosevelt
	War Food Administrator	Chester C. Davis[81]	1943
		John Marvin Jones[82]	1943–1945
	Chairman Citizens Food Committee	Charles Luckman[83]	1947 Sep–Nov	President appointed	Harry Truman
food safety czar	Assistant Commissioner for Food Protection	David W. K. Acheson[84]	2007–2008		George W. Bush
foreign aid czar	Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID)	Randall Tobias[85][86]	2006–2007	President nominated, Senate confirmed		✓
global AIDS czar	Coordinator of U.S. Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally with the rank of Ambassador		2003–2006	(New position), President nominated, Senate confirmed
	Coordinator of U.S.Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally, with the rank of Ambassador	Mark Dybul[87]	2006–2009	President nominated, Senate confirmed
Great Lakes czar	Senior Advisor to the EPA Administrator	Cameron Davis[88]	2009–2017	(New position)	Barack Obama
green-jobs czar	Special Advisor for Green Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation at the White House, Member of the White House Council on Environmental Quality	Van Jones[89]	2009 Apr–Sep	President appointed
Guantanamo Base closure czar	US Department of State Special Envoy	Daniel Fried[90]	2009–2013	Sec. of State appointed
health care czar, technology czar, internet czar, e-czar	Senior Advisor for Policy Development	Ira Magaziner[91]	1993–1998	President appointed	Bill Clinton
health czar	Director of the White House Office of Health Reform and Counselor to the President	Nancy-Ann DeParle[92]	2009–2011	Exec Order	Barack Obama
health czar for the World Trade Center (WTC)	Special coordinator to respond to health effects of September 11 attacks, World Trade Center (WTC) Medical Monitoring and Treatment Program, also served as Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health	John Howard[93]	2006–2008	President Appointed	George W. Bush
health IT czar	National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)	David Brailer[94]	2004–2006	(New position), Exec order, appointed by Sec. of HHS
		David Blumenthal	2009–2011	Exec order, appointed by Sec. of HHS	Barack Obama
homeland security czar	Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism	Tom Ridge[95][96]	2001–2002	(New position), Exec Order, President appointed	George W. Bush
	Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security		2003–2004	(New position), Legislation enacted, President nominated, Senate confirmed		✓
		Michael Chertoff[97]	2005–2009	President nominated, Senate confirmed
homeless czar, homelessness czar	Executive Director, United States Interagency Council on Homelessness	Phil Mangano[98][99]	2002–2008	President appointed
housing czar	Housing Expediter in the Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion	Wilson Wyatt[100]	1945–1946	(New position), President appointed	Harry Truman
human trafficking czar	Special Advisor in the Office of Domestic Policy Council	Heather Fischer[101][102]	2020		Donald Trump
Gulf Coast reconstruction czar, Hurricane Katrina recovery czar	Federal Coordinator of Hurricane Katrina Recovery Effort	Donald E. Powell[103]	2005–2008	President appointed	George W. Bush
inflation czar, anti-inflation czar	Special Trade Representative, Chief U.S. trade negotiator	Robert S. Strauss[104]	1978		Jimmy Carter
inflation czar	Advisor to the President, Chairman Council on Wage and Price Stability	Alfred E. Kahn[105]	1977–1980
czar of information	Director, Office of War Information	Elmer Davis[106]	1942–1945	Exec Order, President appointed	Franklin Roosevelt
information czar, Infotech Czar	Chief Information Officer at the White House	Vivek Kundra[107]	2009–2011	(New position), created by statute, President appointed	Barack Obama
		Steven VanRoekel[108]	2011–2014	created by statute, President appointed
intelligence czar	Director of National Intelligence	John Negroponte[109]	2005–2007	(New position), Congress mandated, President nominated, Senate confirmed	George W. Bush	✓
		John Michael McConnell[110]	2007–2009	President nominated, Senate confirmed
		Dennis C. Blair[111]	2009–2010		Barack Obama
		James R. Clapper[112]	2010–2017
Iran czar	Special Advisor for the Persian Gulf and Southwest Asia (which includes Iran)	Dennis Ross[113]	2009–2011	President appointed
czar of Latin American affairs	Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs	Thomas C. Mann[114]	1964–1965	President nominated, Senate confirmed	Lyndon Johnson	✓
manpower czar	Director, War Manpower Commission	Paul V. McNutt[115]	1942–1945	Exec order	Franklin Roosevelt
manufacturing czar	Assistant Secretary for manufacturing and services, U.S. Commerce Department	Albert Frink[116]	2004–2007	(New position), President nominated, Senate confirmed	George W. Bush	✓
	Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and Services	William G. Sutton[117]	2007–2008	President nominated, Senate confirmed
	Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy	Ron Bloom[15]	2009–2011	President appointed	Barack Obama
Middle East czar	Special Envoy for Middle East Peace	George J. Mitchell[118]		Sec. of State appointed
mine safety czar	Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health	Richard Stickler[119]	2006–2008	Recess appointment—2 prior presidential nominations were rejected by the Senate	George W. Bush
missile czar	Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Research and Development	Trevor Gardner[120]	1954–1956	Sec. of Defense appointed, Senate confirmed	Dwight D. Eisenhower	✓
mobilization czar, civilian economy czar	Director, Office of Defense Mobilization	Charles Edward Wilson[121]	1950–1952	(New position), Exec order	Harry Truman
oil czar	Petroleum Coordinator for National Defense, Secretary of the Interior	Harold L. Ickes[122]	1941–1946	President nominated, Senate confirmed as Sec. of Interior	Franklin Roosevelt	✓
pardon czar		Alice Marie Johnson[123]	2025–present	President appointed	Donald Trump
patronage czar	Postmaster General Post Office Department, Cabinet-level position	Robert E. Hannegan[124]	1945–1947	President nominated, Senate confirmed	Harry Truman
performance czar	United States Chief Performance Officer and Deputy Director for Management at the Office of Management and Budget	Jeffrey Zients[125]	2009–2013		Barack Obama
policy czar	Assistant to the President for Policy and Strategic Planning	Michael Gerson[126]	2005–2006	President appointed	George W. Bush
price czar	Administrator, Office of Price Administration	Leon Henderson[127]	1941–1942	(New position), Exec order, President appointed	Franklin Roosevelt
		Prentiss M. Brown[128]	1942–1943	President appointed
		Chester Bowles[129]	1943–1946
	Chairman of the Price Commission	Grayson Jackson[130]	1971	(New position), President appointed	Richard Nixon
production czar	Director, War Production Board	Donald M. Nelson[131]	1942–1944	(New position), Exec order, President appointed	Franklin Roosevelt
		Julius A. Krug[132]	1944–1945	President appointed
public diplomacy czar	Special advisor to the President, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs	Karen Hughes[133]	2005–2007	President nominated, Senate confirmed	George W. Bush	✓
	Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy	James Glassman[134]	2008–2009
reading czar	President's Advisor on Reading First Initiative, Member of the President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education	Reid Lyon[135]	2001–2005	President appointed
reconversion czar	Director of War Mobilization and Reconversion	John W. Snyder[136]	1945–1946		Harry Truman
regulatory czar	Director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Office of Management and Budget	John Graham[137]	2001–2006	President nominated, Senate confirmed	George W. Bush	✓
		Susan Dudley[138]	2006–2009	Recess appointment, nominee did not receive a Senate vote
		Cass Sunstein[139]	2009–2012	President nominated, Senate confirmed	Barack Obama	✓
rubber czar	Rubber Director	Bill Jeffers[140]	1942–1943	(New position), Exec order, appointed by Chairman of War Production Board	Franklin Roosevelt
savings & loan czar	Director, Office of Thrift Supervision	Timothy Ryan[141]	1990–1997	President nominated, Senate confirmed	George H. W. Bush	✓
science czar	Science Advisor to the President, Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy	John Marburger[142]	2001 Oct – 2009 Jan		George W. Bush
	Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy	John Holdren[143]	2009–2017		Barack Obama
shipping czar	Administrator, War Shipping Administration	Emory S. Land[144]	1942–1946	Exec order	Franklin Roosevelt
stimulus accountability, stimulus oversight	Chairman, Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board	Earl Devaney[145]	2009	(New position), created by statute, President appointed	Barack Obama
technology czar, chief technology czar	Associate Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Assistant to the President	Aneesh Chopra[146]	2009–2012	President nominated, Senate confirmed	Barack Obama	✓
terrorism czar, counter-terrorism czar	National coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counter-terrorism, member of National Security Council, cabinet-level position	Richard A. Clarke[147][148]	1998–2001	President appointed	Bill Clinton
terrorism czar	National coordinator for security, infrastructure protection and counter-terrorism, cabinet level rank removed		2001 Jan–Oct	(Held over from prior administration) President Clinton appointed	George W. Bush
terrorism czar, counterterrorism czar	National Director for Combating Terrorism, Deputy National Security Advisor	Wayne Downing[149]	2001 Nov – 2002 Jun	(New position), President appointed
terrorism czar	Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism	John O. Brennan[150]	2009	President appointed	Barack Obama
trade czar	Senior Policy Advisor in the White House on behalf of the United States Trade Representative.	Mary Ryckman	2012	Appointed by USTR Michael Froman in 2012[151] She also represents the USTR on the President's Council on Women and Girls.[152]
transportation czar	Director, Office of Defense Transportation	Joseph Bartlett Eastman[153]	1941–1944	(New position), Exec order, President appointed	Franklin Roosevelt
		J. Monroe Johnson[154]	1944–1949	President appointed
urban affairs czar	Director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs Policy	Adolfo Carrion[155]	2009–2010	Exec Order, President appointed	Barack Obama
war czar	Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan	Douglas Lute[156]	2007–2009	(New position), President nominated, Senate confirmed	George W. Bush	✓
			2009–2010?	(Held over from prior administration) President Bush nominated, Senate confirmed	Barack Obama
weapons czar	Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (AT&L)	Ashton Carter[157]	2009	President nominated, Senate confirmed
weapons of mass destruction czar, nonproliferation czar	Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for Arms Control and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Proliferation, and Terrorism	Gary Samore[158]	2009–2013	President appointed
weatherization czar	Program Manager, Office of Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program, U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)	Gil Sperling[159]	2008–Unknown	Career incumbent, retained from George W. Bush administration
					George W. Bush

See also

• Advice and consent
• Politics of the United States during World War II
• War as metaphor

Notes

1. In 2019, a "border czar" was also named,^[25] but never formally appointed.^[26]
2. Trump has appointed Homan as the border czar for his second administration as well.