Denis McDonough Confirmed as VA Secretary

On Tuesday, February 9, Denis McDonough was sworn in as the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. This follows the bipartisan 87-7 vote to confirm of Secretary McDonough by the Senate on Monday, February 8.  

Secretary McDonough previously served critical roles in the White House over the eight-year tenure of President Barack Obama, initially serving as senior foreign policy advisor, deputy national security advisor, chair of the National Security Council’s Deputies Committee, and eventually taking over as Chief of Staff to President Obama during his second term.  

Prior to his work with the Obama administration, Secretary McDonough held several positions in senior leadership and policy-making positions for both the US House of Representatives and US Senate.  

Secretary McDonough is a Minnesota native and attended St. John’s University in St. Joseph, Minnesota, where he received B.A. degrees in both history and Spanish and graduated summa cum laude. He then went on to receive an M.S. degree from Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.  

ASA congratulates Secretary McDonough on his confirmation and looks forward to continuing to work with VA on issues important to the practice of VA anesthesiologists and the patients they serve.