President Donald Trump has nominated Karen Brazell to serve as the next Veterans Affairs Under Secretary for Benefits, putting the senior advisor in charge of processing and management for nearly $200 billion in financial aid to millions of veterans.
The post is one of the top leadership roles at the department, but was unveiled quietly on Monday through official nomination correspondence with lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Brazell would be the permanent replacement to Josh Jacobs, who stepped down from the role at the start of the new administration in January.
Currently, Margarita Devlin is serving as the Acting Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits, and performing the duties of the vacant under secretary role.
Brazell was named a senior advisor to Secretary Doug Collins earlier this year. She previously worked in the department as principal executive director and chief acquisition officer for VA’s Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction during the first Trump administration.
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In that role, she oversaw department contract administration and supply chain management, managing a budget over $30 billion and supervising more than 1,700 employees.
Her new role will hold significantly more responsibility, with a staff of more than 30,000 Veterans Benefits Administration employees and a portfolio of dozens of different department benefits programs.
Brazell is an Army veteran who also worked as a defense contractor and a Defense Department employee.
Her role as a senior advisor to Collins is likely to draw scrutiny from Senate Democrats, who have been critical of department moves in recent months to dismiss probationary employees and look for significant cuts to the VA workforce.
White House officials also nominated Alan Boehme to serve as Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Information and Technology, the replacement for Kurt DelBene. Boehme previously worked as Chief Technology Officer for the H&M Group, a fashion and design company.
Senate officials have not scheduled a confirmation hearing date for either of the new nominees.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
