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Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals
Agency Seal
Personal flag of the Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs, of which the Chairman ranks as
Incumbent
Jaime Areizaga-Soto
since September 15, 2022
Board of Veterans Appeals
StyleChairman
(informal)
The Honorable
(formal)
Reports toSecretary of Veterans Affairs
SeatWashington, D.C.
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Term length6 years
No restriction on renewal
Constituting instrumentSec 4001 of Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 85–857, H.R. 9700, 72 Stat. 1241, enacted September 2, 1958, as amended
DeputyVice Chairman
SalaryExecutive Schedule, Level IV
$176,300 USD (January 2022)
Websitehttps://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.

History[edit]

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]
John G. Pollard 1934 1937 Franklin D. Roosevelt Frank T. Hines
Robert L. Jarnagin 1937 1957 Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
Dwight D. Eisenhower

 Frank T. Hines

Omar Bradley
Carl R. Gray Jr.
Harvey V. Higley

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

Jesse Brown

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

Bob McDonald

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 8, 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
  1. ^ From 1934 through 1989, the Board was a part of the Veterans Administration, an independent executive agency, which was led by an administrator of the Veterans Administration. After the passage of the Department of Veterans Affairs Act of 1988 (Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 100–527, H.R. 3471, 102 Stat. 2637, enacted October 25, 1988), the administrator became the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
  2. ^ a b c d During this period, the Secretary designated the Vice Chairman to perform the duties of the Chairman, while there was the absence of a Senate-confirmed nominee. The person performing those duties were given the title Executive in Charge.
  3. ^ Named Acting Chairman in August 2022, pending the swearing-in of General Areizaga-Soto.

References[edit]

  1. ^ House, The White (2022-04-25). "Nominations and Withdrawals Sent to the Senate". The White House. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  2. ^ "PN1976 - Nomination of Jaime Areizaga-Soto for Department of Veterans Affairs, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. 2022-08-04. Retrieved 2022-08-05.
  3. ^ "S.Hrg. 113-298 — HEARING ON PENDING NOMINATIONS". www.congress.gov. Retrieved 2022-04-18.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chairman_of_the_Board_of_Veterans%27_Appeals