{"id":32096,"date":"2026-02-02T21:21:05","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T21:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2026\/02\/02\/iraq-veteran-long-time-gop-appointee-named-va-chief-of-staff\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T20:56:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T20:56:01","slug":"iraq-veteran-long-time-gop-appointee-named-va-chief-of-staff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/federal-oversight\/2026\/02\/02\/iraq-veteran-long-time-gop-appointee-named-va-chief-of-staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Iraq veteran, long-time GOP appointee named VA chief of staff"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2026\/01\/30\/veterans-health-shake-up-reforms-to-get-underway-in-coming-months\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2026\/01\/30\/veterans-health-shake-up-reforms-to-get-underway-in-coming-months\/\">Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a> will have a new chief of staff beginning mid-February following the departure of Chris Syrek, who has served in the position since January 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Army veteran and longtime Republican staffer Curt Cashour, who currently serves as the VA\u2019s assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs, will step into the top advisory role to VA Secretary Doug Collins. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, Collins said Syrek\u2019s departure was planned, and with Cashour\u2019s appointment, he \u201clooks forward to many more VA improvements.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cChris has been a key part of our leadership team and my most trusted advisor since day one. He\u2019s done an amazing job helping us make the department work better and delivering on President Trump\u2019s promises to those who have worn the uniform,\u201d\u202fCollins<b> <\/b>said of Syrek, who served as VA deputy chief of staff from 2018 to 2021 during President Donald Trump\u2019s first term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe thank Chris for his dedicated service and wish him the best in his future endeavors. We welcome\u202fCurt\u202finto his new role and look forward to many more VA improvements under the leadership of President Trump,\u201d Collins said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to the VA announcement, Syrek is leaving the department for a position in the private sector. He previously served as head of federal consulting at KPMG and a lobbyist for a trucking association. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cashour has spent his career in public affairs, starting with a four-year stint in the U.S. Army followed by nearly a decade in private and public service, including two separate periods as communications director for House Veterans Affairs Committee Republicans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Cashour is an Iraq War veteran who earned the Bronze Star and has a Combat Action Badge <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From 2017 to 2021, Cashour was the VA\u2019s press secretary and later, the deputy assistant secretary for public affairs. During that time, he and John Ullyot, then the VA\u2019s assistant secretary for public affairs, were implicated in the departure of VA Secretary David Shulkin, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/02\/20\/white-house-offers-faint-support-for-embattled-va-secretary-shulkin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/02\/20\/white-house-offers-faint-support-for-embattled-va-secretary-shulkin\/\">left the VA amid a controversy over travel expenses.<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">USA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2018\/02\/28\/va-secretary-david-shulkins-top-pr-aide-lobbied-congress-get-him-fired-sources-say\/380726002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2018\/02\/28\/va-secretary-david-shulkins-top-pr-aide-lobbied-congress-get-him-fired-sources-say\/380726002\/\">Today reported in 2018 that Ullyot and Cashour campaigned for the ouster of Shulkin,<\/a> who was appointed VA secretary by President Barack Obama and was retained by Trump. In response to the article and additional reports by the Washington Post on the pair\u2019s alleged role in Shulkin\u2019s removal, they issued a statement saying it never happened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe allegation is ridiculous,\u201d they wrote. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The VA currently has all but one of its six top leadership roles filled. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2026\/01\/16\/va-again-launches-search-for-va-benefits-chief\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2026\/01\/16\/va-again-launches-search-for-va-benefits-chief\/\">search is underway to fill the open position of undersecretary for benefits<\/a>, which oversees the delivery of disability compensation, education, housing and other benefits for more than 6 million veterans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Margarita Devlin, VBA\u2019s principal deputy undersecretary for benefits, is currently acting in the undersecretary\u2019s role. The previous nominee, Karen Brazell, a senior adviser to VA Secretary Doug Collins, withdrew her nomination in October for personal reasons. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Curt Cashour, the VA\u2019s assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs, will step into the top advisory role to VA Secretary Doug Collins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":111384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":9,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[9],"tags":[8457,8455,8441],"coauthors":[3200],"class_list":["post-32096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-federal-oversight","tag-department-of-veterans-affairs","tag-va","tag-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"CFQTNRFFNFB4PBNSQCMQI5NDLE","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2026\/02\/02\/iraq-veteran-long-time-gop-appointee-named-va-chief-of-staff\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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