James Byrne (lawyer)

James Michael Byrne[3] (born August 28, 1964) is an American lawyer who served as the United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs from September 2019 to February 2020 and as Acting Deputy Secretary from August 2018 to September 2019. He previously served as the general counsel for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs.

James Byrne
8th United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
In office September 16, 2019 – February 3, 2020 Acting: August 28, 2018 – September 16, 2019
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Thomas G. Bowman
Succeeded by	Pamela J. Powers (acting)
General Counsel of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs
In office August 8, 2017 – September 16, 2019
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Leigh A. Bradley
Succeeded by	William A. Hudson, Jr. (acting)
Personal details
Born	James Michael Byrne August 28, 1964[1][2] St. Louis, Missouri, United States[1]
Spouse(s)	Rebecca L. Cogburn[1]
Education	United States Naval Academy (B.S.) Stetson University College of Law (J.D.)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1987–2007
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel

Education

Byrne receive an undergraduate engineering degree from the United States Naval Academy, where he was a distinguished graduate and the brigade commander. He earned his J.D. from Stetson University College of Law. After law school, he clerked for Judge Malcolm Jones Howard of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.[4]

Career

Byrne was Associate General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer at Lockheed Martin. At Lockheed Martin, he also served as the company's primary cyber and counterintelligence attorney.[5]

Byrne served as a deployed Marine Infantry Officer. In 2004, he served active duty with the United States Marine Corps for 18 months, where he was an officer in charge of the Marine Liaison Office at medical centers in Maryland. In this capacity, he supported injured and deceased marines and their families.[6]

Byrne worked for the United States Department of Justice as an international narcotics prosecutor. He has also served as a career Senior Executive Service Deputy Special Counsel with the United States Office of Special Counsel and as both General Counsel and Assistant Inspector General for Investigations with the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.[4]

He is a former adjunct professor of Marymount University and East Carolina University.

Until August 2017, Byrne served on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Board and the International Association of Privacy Professionals Board of Directors. Byrne volunteers in his community, and has served on several non-profit and advisory boards. For ten years, he volunteered on the Executive Board of Give an Hour, a non-profit organization that has developed national networks of volunteer professionals capable of providing complimentary and confidential mental health services in response to both acute and chronic conditions that arise within our society, beginning with the mental health needs of post-9/11 veterans, service members and their families.[7]

Department of Veterans Affairs

From 2017 to 2019, Byrne served as VA's General Counsel,[7] being nominated by President Donald Trump.[4]

On August 28, 2018, Trump named Byrne as Acting Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs.[7] On April 12, 2019, Trump nominated Byrne to serve permanently as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs.[8] He was confirmed by the Senate on September 11, 2019 and was sworn in on September 16, 2019. Byrne was fired from his position on February 3, 2020.[9][10][11][12] The announcement of Byrne's firing said it was "due to loss of confidence" in his "ability to carry out his duties." Two days later Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie described it as "a simple business decision".[13][14]

References

1. "Nominations of the 115th Congress, part 1" (PDF). govinfo.gov. U.S. Government Publishing Office. July 19, 2017. p. 52. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
2. United States Public Records, 1970-2009 (Florida, Hawaii, North Carolina, 1991-2004)
3. "PN348 — Navy". U.S. Congress. May 15, 1987. Retrieved August 31, 2018.
4. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts". The White House. June 22, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
5. Edwards, Jane (August 7, 2017). "Lockheed Vet James Byrne Confirmed as VA General Counsel". ExecutiveGov. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
6. Siegelbaum, Max (August 7, 2017). "Lockheed Martin Privacy Lawyer Takes Government Post". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved August 9, 2017.
7. "James Byrne - Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs". www.va.gov. Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved September 15, 2018. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
8. "President Donald J. Trump Announces Nominations of Individuals to Key Administration Posts". The White House. April 12, 2019. Retrieved April 13, 2019.
9. Swan, Jonathan; Treene, Alayna; Kight, Stef W. (February 3, 2020). "Scoop: Veterans Affairs deputy secretary James Byrne fired". Axios. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
10. Oprysko, Caitlin (February 3, 2020). "Deputy VA secretary fired after less than 5 months on the job". Politico. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
11. Kesling, Ben (February 3, 2020). "VA's Deputy Secretary Dismissed by Department's Top Official". The Wall Street Journal.
12. Steinhauer, Jennifer (February 3, 2020). "Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs Is Abruptly Dismissed". The New York Times.
13. Nicole, Ogrysko (February 5, 2020). "Wilkie says firing of VA deputy secretary was a 'simple business decision'". Federal News Network. Retrieved February 6, 2020.
14. Abraham, Mahshie (February 5, 2020). "'A simple business decision': VA secretary says sacking of James Byrne not related to handling of sexual misconduct case". Washington Examiner. Retrieved February 6, 2020.