Federal Cabinet · Department of Health and Human Services
United States Secretaries of Health and Human Services
Every individual who has led the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services — the current secretary, shown first with a “Currently serving” badge, followed by every former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. Cabinet secretaries are nominated by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate; each profile below records the appointment type (Senate-confirmed, acting, recess, or designated), the full span of service, and the external authority records that back every fact. The full machine-readable roster is published as a versioned JSON dataset for downstream researchers and language models.
- Currently serving
- 1
- Former secretaries
- 14
- Total
- 15
Currently serving1
Former secretaries14
- Dorothy FinkUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 2025–2025Acting
- Norris CochranUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 2021–2021Acting
- Xavier BecerraUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 2021–2025Senate-confirmed
- Alex AzarUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 2018–2021Senate-confirmed
- Tom PriceUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 2017–2017Senate-confirmed
- Sylvia BurwellUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 2014–2017Senate-confirmed
- Kathleen SebeliusUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 2009–2014Senate-confirmed
- Mike LeavittUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 2005–2009Senate-confirmed
- Tommy ThompsonUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 2001–2005Senate-confirmed
- Donna ShalalaUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 1993–2001Senate-confirmed
- Louis Wade SullivanUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 1989–1993Senate-confirmed
- Otis R. BowenUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 1985–1989Senate-confirmed
- Margaret HecklerUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 1983–1985Senate-confirmed
- Patricia HarrisUnited States Secretary of Health and Human Services · 1980–1981Senate-confirmed
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