United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox official post The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on health matters. The secretary is a member of the United States Cabinet. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the incumbent secretary of health and human services, having held the position since February 13, 2025.[1]

The office was formerly known as the secretary of health, education, and welfare. In 1980, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was renamed to Department of Health and Human Services, and its education functions and Rehabilitation Services Administration were transferred to the new United States Department of Education.[2] Patricia Roberts Harris headed the department before and after it was renamed.[3]

Nominations to the office are referred to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the United States Senate Committee on Finance, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid,[4] before confirmation is considered by the full United States Senate. The secretary of health and human services is a level I position in the Executive Schedule,[5] thus earning a salary of US$250,600, as of January 2025.[6]

Duties

File:Flag of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.png
The flag of the secretary of health, education, and welfare, the predecessor to the current office

The duties of the secretary revolve around human conditions and concerns in the United States. This includes advising the president on matters of health, welfare, and income security programs. The secretary strives to administer the Department of Health and Human Services to carry out approved programs and make the public aware of the objectives of the department.[7]

The Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) was reorganized into a Department of Education and a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The Department of Health and Human Services oversees 11 agencies including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Administration for Children and Families (ACF) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).[8]

List of secretaries

Parties

Template:Legend2 (9) Template:Legend2 (15) Template:Legend2 (2)

Status Template:Legend2

Health, Education, and Welfare

No. Portrait Name State of residence Took office Left office President(s)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">1 File:Hobby-Oveta-Culp.jpg Template:Sortname Texas April 11, 1953 July 31, 1955 rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1953–1961)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">2 File:Folsom.jpg Template:Sortname New York August 2, 1955 July 31, 1958
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">3 File:ArthurSFlemming.jpg Template:Sortname Ohio August 1, 1958 January 19, 1961
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">4 File:Ribicoff.jpg Template:Sortname Connecticut January 21, 1961 July 13, 1962 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1961–1963)
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">5 File:Celebrez.jpg Template:Sortname Ohio July 31, 1962 August 17, 1965
rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1963–1969)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">6 File:John W. Gardner, U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.jpg Template:Sortname California August 18, 1965 March 1, 1968
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">7 File:Wilburportrait.jpg Template:Sortname Michigan May 16, 1968 January 20, 1969
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">8 File:Robert Finch, 1967.jpg Template:Sortname California January 21, 1969 June 23, 1970 rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1969–1974)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">9 File:ElliotLeeRichardson.jpg Template:Sortname Massachusetts June 24, 1970 January 29, 1973
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">10 File:Caspar Weinberger official photo.jpg Template:Sortname California February 12, 1973 August 8, 1975
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1974–1977)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">11 File:F. David Mathews.jpg Template:Sortname Alabama August 8, 1975 January 20, 1977
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">12 File:Swearing-in of Joseph Califano, Secretary of HEW - NARA - 173478 (cropped).tif Template:Sortname District of Columbia January 25, 1977 August 3, 1979 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1977–1981)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">13 File:Patricia R. Harris official portrait.jpg Template:Sortname District of Columbia August 3, 1979 May 4, 1980[9]

Health and Human Services

No. Portrait Name State of residence Took office Left office President(s)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">13 File:Patricia R. Harris official portrait.jpg Template:Sortname District of Columbia May 4, 1980[9] January 20, 1981 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1977–1981)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">14 File:Secretary Richard Schweiker.jpg Template:Sortname Pennsylvania January 22, 1981 February 3, 1983 rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1981–1989)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">15 File:Mmheckler.JPG Template:Sortname Massachusetts March 10, 1983 December 13, 1985
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">16 File:Otis R. Bowen.jpg Template:Sortname Indiana December 13, 1985 March 1, 1989
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">17 File:SullivanLouis.jpg Template:Sortname Georgia March 1, 1989 January 20, 1993 Template:Sortname
(1989–1993)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">18 File:Shalala portrait.jpg Template:Sortname Wisconsin January 22, 1993 January 20, 2001 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(1993–2001)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">19 File:Tommy Thompson 1.jpg Template:Sortname Wisconsin February 2, 2001 January 26, 2005 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2001–2009)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">20 File:Mike Leavitt.jpg Template:Sortname Utah January 26, 2005 January 20, 2009
Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">– File:JohnsonCharlesE.jpg Template:Sortname Utah January 20, 2009 April 28, 2009 rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2009–2017)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">21 File:Kathleen Sebelius official portrait (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Kansas April 28, 2009 June 9, 2014
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">22 File:Sylvia Mathews Burwell official portrait (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname West Virginia June 9, 2014 January 20, 2017
Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">– File:Norris Cochran (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Florida January 20, 2017 February 10, 2017 rowspan=5 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2017–2021)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">23 File:Tom Price official photo (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Georgia February 10, 2017 September 29, 2017
Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">– File:Don J. Wright official portrait (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Virginia September 29, 2017 October 10, 2017
Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">– File:Eric D. Hargan official photo (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Illinois October 10, 2017 January 29, 2018
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">24 File:Alex Azar official portrait (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Indiana January 29, 2018 January 20, 2021
Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">– File:Norris Cochran (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname Florida January 20, 2021 March 19, 2021 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2021–2025)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:white">25 File:HHS Xavier Becerra (cropped).jpg Template:Sortname California March 19, 2021 January 20, 2025
Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">– File:Dorothy-Fink.jpg Template:Sortname Pennsylvania January 20, 2025 February 13, 2025 rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Party color;" | Template:Sortname
(2025–present)
style="background: Template:Party color;" |Template:Ifsubst style="color:black">26 File:Robert F. Kennedy Jr., official portrait (2025) (cropped 3-4).jpg Robert F. Kennedy Jr. California February 13, 2025 Incumbent

Line of succession

The line of succession for the secretary of health and human services is as follows:[10]

  1. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services.
  2. General Counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services
  3. Assistant Secretary for Administration
  4. Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
  5. Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  6. Commissioner of Food and Drugs
  7. Director of the National Institutes of Health
  8. Assistant Secretary for Children and Families
  9. Other assistant secretaries (following in the order they took the oath of office)
    1. Assistant Secretary for Health
    2. Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response
    3. Assistant Secretary for Legislation
    4. Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs
    5. Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources
    6. Assistant Secretary for Aging
  10. Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  11. Director, Region 4 (Atlanta, Georgia)

References

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External links

Template:S-precTemplate:S-precTemplate:S-endTemplate:Navboxes
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check Order of precedence of the United States
as Secretary of Health and Human ServicesScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Template:S-ttl/check 		Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
Preceded byTemplate:S-bef/check 12th in line Template:S-ttl/check Template:S-aft/check Succeeded by
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  9. ↑ a b Harris was Secretary on May 4, 1980, when the office changed names from Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to Secretary of Health and Human Services. Because the department merely changed names, she did not need to be confirmed again, and her term continued uninterrupted.
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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