Senate confirms Denis McDonough as Veterans Affairs secretary

Denis McDonough.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Senate on Monday confirmed Denis McDonough as secretary of Veterans Affairs.

McDonough, 51, was confirmed in an 87-7 vote. In 2013, he served as chief of staff to President Barack Obama, and before that was a deputy national security adviser. McDonough is only the second non-veteran to lead the VA.

In this role, he will have to guide the agency as it works to vaccinate millions of veterans, while also trying to repair its reputation, following scandals involving long waits and the falsification of records.

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McDonough told the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee that he will overhaul the department. "This won't be easy," he said. "The Department of Veterans Affairs faces great challenges, challenges made even more daunting by the coronavirus pandemic. Its capabilities have not always risen to the needs of our veterans."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.