Press Release - President Biden Announces Key Nominees

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as key leaders in his administration:

• Tanya J. Bradsher, Nominee for Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
• Margaret L. Taylor, Nominee for Legal Adviser of the Department of State

Tanya J. Bradsher, Nominee for Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Tanya J. Bradsher serves as the Chief of Staff at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In this role, she is the Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary in the federal government's second-largest cabinet department, with a budget of more than $246 billion and over 424,000 employees serving in VA medical centers, clinics, benefits offices, and national cemeteries. Bradsher is a combat veteran who served for 20 years in the United States Army, retiring in 2013 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. She has also served on the White House's National Security Council during both the Obama-Biden and Biden-Harris Administrations, as Chief of Staff to Congressman Don Beyer in Virginia's 8th District, with the American Psychiatric Association as Chief of Communications, and with the Defense Health Agency as Chief of Plans for Public Affairs. During the Obama-Biden Administration, Bradsher served as the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where she oversaw public outreach, media, and incident communications efforts. Before joining DHS, she served at the White House as the Assistant Director for the Office of Public Engagement, where she led Veteran, Wounded Warrior, and Military Family Outreach initiatives. Bradsher earned her M.A. in Strategic Communications from George Washington University, and her B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has received numerous military awards, including the Bronze Star Medal. Bradsher and her husband, Colonel (Retired) John Bradsher, have three children.

Margaret L. Taylor, Nominee for Legal Adviser of the Department of State
Margaret L. Taylor is General Counsel of the United States Agency for International Development. Previously, she was a Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and Senior Editor at Lawfare. She served as the Democratic Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Prior to that, she was an attorney in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State, where she advised on the legal aspects of foreign assistance programs, international economic sanctions, anti-trafficking in persons efforts, and other international law enforcement matters. Taylor was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow with the Center for Strategic & International Studies. She received her A.B. from Princeton University and J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Columbia Law Review. She clerked for Judge Amalya Kearse of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.