United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs

The deputy secretary of veterans affairs, in the United States government, is the chief operating officer of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, responsible for a nationwide system of health care services, benefits programs, and national cemeteries for America's veterans and their dependents.^[1] The deputy secretary is the second-highest-ranking officer in the department and succeeds the secretary in the event of his resignation, death, or otherwise inability to fulfill his duties.^[2]

Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs of the United States
Seal of the Department of Veterans Affairs
Flag of the deputy secretary
Incumbent Paul Lawrence since March 29, 2025
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Style	Mr. Deputy Secretary
Reports to	Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The president with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Formation	March 17, 1989
First holder	Anthony Joseph Principi
Salary	Executive Schedule, level II
Website	www.va.gov

The deputy secretary is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.^[3] The position was created with the creation of the Department of Veterans Affairs in October 1988.^[4]

List of deputy secretaries of veterans affairs

No.	Portrait	Name	Term of office		President(s) served under
			Start	End
1		Anthony Joseph Principi #	March 17, 1989[5]	September 26, 1992[5]	George H. W. Bush
2		Hershel Wayne Gober #	February 4, 1993[6]	August 10, 2000[7]	Bill Clinton
–		Edward A. "Ned" Powell, Jr. (acting)	August 10, 2000[7]	January 20, 2001[8]
3		Leo S. Mackay, Jr.	May 24, 2001[9]	September 30, 2003[10]	George W. Bush
4		Gordon H. Mansfield #	January 22, 2004[11]	January 20, 2009
5		W. Scott Gould	April 9, 2009[12]	May 17, 2013[1]	Barack Obama
6		Sloan D. Gibson #	February 11, 2014[13]	January 20, 2017
–		Gina Farrisee (acting)	January 20, 2017	February 25, 2017	Donald Trump
–		Scott Blackburn (acting)	February 26, 2017	August 9, 2017
7		Thomas G. Bowman	August 10, 2017	June 15, 2018
8		James Byrne	August 28, 2018	September 16, 2019
			September 16, 2019	February 3, 2020
–		Pamela J. Powers (acting)	April 2, 2020[14]	January 20, 2021
–		Carolyn Clancy (acting)	January 20, 2021	July 19, 2021	Joe Biden
9		Donald Remy	July 19, 2021	April 1, 2023
–		Guy Kiyokawa (acting)	April 1, 2023	September 19, 2023
10		Tanya J. Bradsher	September 20, 2023	January 20, 2025
11		Paul Lawrence	March 29, 2025	Incumbent	Donald Trump