United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services

The deputy secretary of health and human services (formerly the under secretary of health, education, and welfare, 1953–1979, and the under secretary of health and human services, 1979–1990) is the chief operating officer of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The deputy secretary oversees all operations within the department, including overseeing Medicare, Medicaid, public health, medical research, food and drug safety, welfare, child and family services, disease prevention, Indian health, and mental health services. The deputy secretary was Jim O'Neill, from June 2025 to February 2026.

StyleMr. Deputy Secretary (informal)
The Honorable (formal)

ReportstoUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services

SeatHubert H. Humphrey Building, Washington, D.C.

AppointerThe president
with Senate advice and consent

Quick facts of Health and Human Services, Style ...

United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services
Seal of the Department of Health and Human Services
Incumbent Brian Christine since May 11, 2026^[1]
United States Department of Health and Human Services
Style	Mr. Deputy Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Reports to	United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
Seat	Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The president with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Precursor	Under Secretary of Health and Human Services
Formation	August 1990
First holder	Nelson Rockefeller
Salary	Executive Schedule, level II
Website	www.hhs.gov

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The deputy secretary is also the regulatory policy officer for the department, overseeing the development and approval of all HHS regulations and significant guidance. In addition, the deputy secretary leads a number of initiatives at the department, including implementing the president's management agenda, combating bio-terrorism, and public health emergency preparedness. He also represents the secretary of health and human services on the board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.^[2]

The deputy secretary is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.^[3] The deputy secretary is paid at level II of the Executive Schedule.^[4] The deputy secretary is assisted by a principal associate deputy secretary of health and human services, two associate deputy secretaries, and three staff assistants.^[5] The position of deputy secretary was originally held by an under secretary until the position was retitled in August 1990. The position of under secretary had been in existence since the creation of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953.^[3]

Health, Education, and Welfare

List of assistant secretaries

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#	Image	Name	Took office	Left office	President served under	References
1		Jane Morrow Spaulding	April 1953	January 1954	Dwight D. Eisenhower	^[6]^[7]

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List of under secretaries

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#	Name	Took office	Left office	President served under	References
1	Nelson Rockefeller	June 1953	December 1954	Dwight D. Eisenhower	^[8]
	Vacant	December 1954	September 1955		^[9]
2	Herold Christian Hunt	September 1955	February 1957		^[10]
	Vacant	February 1957	April 1957		^[11]
3	John Alanson Perkins	April 1957	March 1958		^[12]^[13]
	Vacant	March 7, 1958	March 18, 1958		^[14]
4	Bertha Adkins	March 1958	January 1961		^[15]^[16]
5	Ivan Arnold Nestingen	January 1961	May 1965	John F. Kennedy	^[17]^[18]^[19]
5	Ivan Arnold Nestingen	January 1961	May 1965	Lyndon B. Johnson	^[17]^[18]^[19]
6	Wilbur J. Cohen	June 1965	May 1968		^[20]
	Vacant	May 1968	July 1968		^[21]
7	James H. McCrocklin	July 1968	January 1969		^[22]^[23]^[24]
	Vacant	January 1969	March 1969	Richard Nixon	^[25]
8	John Veneman	March 1969	January 1973		^[26]^[27]^[28]
9	Frank Carlucci	January 1973	January 1975
9	Frank Carlucci	January 1973	January 1975	Gerald Ford	^[29]
10	Marjorie Lynch	November 1975	January 1977
10	Marjorie Lynch	November 1975	January 1977	Gerald Ford	^[29]
11	Hale Champion	January 1977	June 1979
11	Hale Champion	January 1977	June 1979	Jimmy Carter	^[30]^[31]

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Health and Human Services

List of under secretaries

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#	Name	Took office	Left office	President served under	References
12	John A. Svahn	March 1983	September 1983	Ronald Reagan	^[32]
13	Charles D. Baker	1984	1985
14	Don M. Newman	1985	1989
15	Constance Horner	1989	August 1990	George H. W. Bush

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List of deputy secretaries

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#	Name	Took office	Left office	President served under	References
15	Constance Horner	August 1990	1991	George H. W. Bush
16	Kevin Moley	1991	1993	George H. W. Bush
17	Walter Broadnax	1993	1996	Bill Clinton
18	Kevin Thurm	1996	2001	Bill Clinton	^[33]
19	Claude Allen	May 26, 2001	January 22, 2005	George W. Bush	^[34]
20	Alex Azar	January 22, 2005	February 4, 2007		^[35]
–	Eric Hargan (acting)	February 4, 2007	August 5, 2007		^[36]
21	Tevi Troy	August 5, 2007	January 20, 2009		^[2]
22	Bill Corr	May 6, 2009	April 2015	Barack Obama	^[37]
–	Mary Wakefield (acting)	April 2015	January 20, 2017	Barack Obama	^[37]
–	Colleen Barros (acting)	January 20, 2017	October 6, 2017	Donald Trump
23	Eric Hargan	October 6, 2017	January 20, 2021	Donald Trump
24	Andrea Palm	May 12, 2021	January 20, 2025	Joe Biden
25	Jim O'Neill	June 9, 2025	February 13, 2026	Donald Trump

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References

[1]
"US HHS deputy secretary and acting CDC chief Jim O'Neill to leave posts, Politico reports". Reuters. February 13, 2026. Retrieved 22 February 2026.
[2]
"HHS – Biography of Tevi D. Troy, Deputy Secretary". Archived from the original on August 20, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
[3]
"US CODE: Title 42,3501. Establishment of Department; effective date". Retrieved September 25, 2007.
[4]
"US CODE: Title 5,5313. Positions at level II". Retrieved September 25, 2007.
[5]
"HHS/OS Organizational Directory (IOS/Office of the Deputy Secretary) – Browse". Retrieved September 25, 2007.
[6]
Smith, Jessie Carney, "Notable Black American women, Book II" (1996), p. 611 "In April, 1953, when the Department of Health, Education and Welfare was established with Oveta Culp Hobby as its first secretary, Spaulding was appointed her assistant. ... After only nine months... Spaulding was reassigned. On January 21, 1954, HEW released to the press the entire text of Jane Spaulding's resignation along with the report that she has accepted a position with the War Claims Commission."
[7]
Mjagki, Nina, "Portraits of African American life since 1865" (2003), p. 190 "More African Americans were appointed to high federal posts during the Eisenhower than by any other administration since that of Theodore Roosevelt". Roberta Church was reportedly considered for the position of "assistant to the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare"... "but that job went to Jane Morrow Spaulding, another prominent black Republican."
[8]
A common thread of Service, p. 43. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. Under Secretary was a new office, outranking the position of Assistant. "Nelson A. Rockefeller June 11, 1953 – December 22, 1954".
[9]
A common thread of Service, p. 43. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "Vacancy December 23, 1954 – September 11, 1955".
[10]
A common thread of Service, p. 43. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "Herold C. Hunt September 12, 1955 – February 4, 1957".
[11]
A common thread of Service, p. 43. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "Vacancy February 5, 1957 – April 4, 1957".
[12]
A common thread of Service, p. 44. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "John A.Perkins April 5, 1957 – March 6, 1958".
[13]
"Journal of physical education and recreation", Vol. 28 (1957), p. 52. "John Alanson Perkins, who has been president of the University of Delaware since 1950, has been appointed to the position of Under Secretary".
[14]
A common thread of Service, p. 44. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "Vacancy March 7, 1958 – March 18, 1958".
[15]
A common thread of Service, p. 44. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "Bertha S. Atkins March 19, 1958 – January 19, 1961".
[16]
O'Dea Schenken, Suzanne, "From suffrage to the Senate: an encyclopedia of American women in Politics, Vol. II", p. 17. Contains a bio of Adkins. "Adkins, Bertha Sheppard (1906–1983). Undersecretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1958 to 1960. ... Served as director of the Republican Party's Women's Division from 1950 to 1953, when the division closed. Adkins then became assistant to the chair of the Republican National Committee, serving until 1960."
[17]
A common thread of Service, p. 44. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "Ivan A. Nestingen January 21, 1961 – May 31, 1965".
[18]
Mossman, Jennifer, "Almanac of Famous People". Vol. 1", p. 1421. Contains a brief bio of Nestingen. "Nestingen, Ivan Arnold" (1921–1978) . He is listed as Mayor of Madison Wisconsin from 1956 to 1961, Under Secretary of HEW from 1961 to 1965.
[19]
Bowling, Lawson, "Shapers of the Great Debate on the Great Society", p. 44. Covers Nestingen in a section covering the efforts to introduce Medicare and his working relationship with Wilbur J. Cohen. "Cohen's immediate superior and fellow Wisconsinite, HEW Undersecretary Ivan Nestingen, grew extremely frustrated with the congressional logjam and, disillusioned with Cohen's inside game, came to favor an outside public relations effort to create pressure on Congress, banking on the Medicare concept's general popularity. ... Nestingen eventually left government service in 1965 in a fashion rumored not to be voluntary".
[20]
A common thread of Service, p. 44. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "Wilbur J. Cohen June 1, 1965 – May 16, 1968".
[21]
A common thread of Service, p. 44. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "Vacancy May 17, 1968 – July 14, 1968".
[22]
A common thread of Service, p. 44. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "James H. McCrocklin July 15, 1968 – January 20, 1969".
[23]
Time Magazine article, L.B.J. : Lengthening Shadows, originally published June 28, 1968. "When the President fills vacant posts, appointments have an odor of the payoff. James McCrocklin, new Under Secretary of HEW, is a former president of Southwest Texas State College, which boasts one really distinguished alumnus, named Johnson."
[24]
"The inauguration of James Henry McCrocklin as fourth president of Southwest Texas State Teachers College" 1964). The title offers the full name of McCrocklin.
[25]
A common thread of Service, p. 44. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "Vacancy January 21, 1969 – March 5, 1969".
[26]
A common thread of Service, p. 44. Lists holders of the position of Under Secretary. "John G. Veneman March 6, 1969 to present". The book was published in 1970
[27]
Derthick, Martha, "Policymaking for social security" (1979), p. 68. "The Nixon administration of 1969–72 continued the practice of liberal appointees with Robert H. Finch (1969–1970) and Richardson (1970–1973) as secretaries and John G. Veneman (1969–1973) as under secretary".
[28]
Kaplowitz, Craig Allan, "LULAC, Mexican Americans and National Policy" (2005), p. 147. "As John Veneman, undersecretary of HEW, told The Washington Post in January 1972, 'Whenever Spanish-speaking students' performance is shown to be markedly lower, a strong case can be made that they are not receiving an equal education.' Teaching children in a language that some understand and others do not was not 'equal', according to Veneman, and Spanish language use and low test scores together could prove the need for remedy."
[29]
Better Evaluations Needed to Weed Out Useless Federal Advisory Committees. United States General Accounting Office. 1977. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
[30]
Patterson, Rachelle (January 20, 1977). "Harvard financial chief Hale Champion named under secretary of HEW". The Boston Globe.
[31]
Patterson, Rachelle (May 17, 1979). "Hale Champion resigns from HEW". The Boston Globe.
[32]
"Appointment of John A. Svahn as United States Commissioner on the Commission for the Study of Alternatives to the Panama Canal". Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
[33]
"HHS Organizational Directory – Browse". Archived from the original on December 12, 2000. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
[34]
"HHS/OS Organizational Directory (IOS/Office of the Deputy Secretary) – Browse". Archived from the original on February 18, 2005. Retrieved February 18, 2005.
[35]
"HHS – Office of the Deputy Secretary". Archived from the original on January 7, 2007. Retrieved January 7, 2007.
[36]
"HHS – Office of the Deputy Secretary". Archived from the original on April 27, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2007.
[37]
"Presidential Nomination Sent to Senate". whitehouse.gov. July 13, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015 – via National Archives.

United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services

Health, Education, and Welfare

List of assistant secretaries

List of under secretaries

Health and Human Services

List of under secretaries

List of deputy secretaries

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