The Senate voted late Monday to confirm President Biden’s nomination of Denis McDonough as secretary to the Department of Veterans Affairs. The vote was 87-7.
McDonough, a former chief of staff to President Obama, now becomes just the second VA secretary to never have served in the military – after former secretary David Shulkin, according to Stars and Stripes. He is also just the second nominee to not receive unanimous support, following another Trump nominee, Robert Wilke.
In his nomination hearings, McDonough has already pledged to make cybersecurity and modernization a key priority, as he leads one of the nation’s largest Federal agencies, and the nation’s largest healthcare system. McDonough was advanced by the Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 2.
