The Department of Veterans Affairs 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.
Army veteran and longtime Republican staffer Curt Cashour, who currently serves as the VA’s assistant secretary for public and intergovernmental affairs, will step into the top advisory role to VA Secretary Doug Collins.
In a statement, Collins said Syrek’s departure was planned, and with Cashour’s appointment, he “looks forward to many more VA improvements.”
“Chris has been a key part of our leadership team and my most trusted advisor since day one. He’s done an amazing job helping us make the department work better and delivering on President Trump’s promises to those who have worn the uniform,” Collins said of Syrek, who served as VA deputy chief of staff from 2018 to 2021 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
“We thank Chris for his dedicated service and wish him the best in his future endeavors. We welcome Curt into his new role and look forward to many more VA improvements under the leadership of President Trump,” Collins said.
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.
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.
Cashour is an Iraq War veteran who earned the Bronze Star and has a Combat Action Badge
From 2017 to 2021, Cashour was the VA’s press secretary and later, the deputy assistant secretary for public affairs. During that time, he and John Ullyot, then the VA’s assistant secretary for public affairs, were implicated in the departure of VA Secretary David Shulkin, who left the VA amid a controversy over travel expenses.
USA Today reported in 2018 that Ullyot and Cashour campaigned for the ouster of Shulkin, 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’s alleged role in Shulkin’s removal, they issued a statement saying it never happened.
“The allegation is ridiculous,” they wrote.
The VA currently has all but one of its six top leadership roles filled. A search is underway to fill the open position of undersecretary for benefits, which oversees the delivery of disability compensation, education, housing and other benefits for more than 6 million veterans.
Principal Deputy Undersecretary for Benefits Michael Frueh is currently serving in the role as a commission, led by Deputy VA Secretary Paul Lawrence, conducts the process for recommending candidates to the president. The previous nominee, Karen Brazell, a senior adviser to VA Secretary Doug Collins, withdrew her nomination in October for personal reasons.
Patricia Kime is a senior writer covering military and veterans health care, medicine and personnel issues.
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