Ms. Margaret (Meg) Kabat was selected by Secretary Denis McDonough to serve as the Chief of Staff for the US Department of Veterans Affairs in July 2024. As Chief of Staff, Ms. Kabat helps lead VA in its mission to serve America’s Veterans and directs policy, strategy, operations, and communications in the federal government’s second-largest Cabinet department, with a budget of more than $264 billion and over 450,000 employees.
A licensed clinical social worker, Ms. Kabat brings more than 25 years of work with Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors to this role. In 2021, Ms. Kabat served as the Senior Advisor for Families, Caregivers, and Survivors at VA and was selected to be the Principal Senior Advisor in January 2022. In these roles, Ms. Kabat oversaw implementation of an expansion of women’s reproductive health and in-vitro fertilizations services for women Veterans, and expansion of eligibility for service members with an Other Than Honorable discharge from service, an expansion of services to family caregivers of Veterans, and the implementation of the PACT Act – the largest expansion of Veteran care and benefits in generations. Additionally, she played a vital leadership role in housing more than 75,000 homeless Veterans in the past two years.
Previously, Ms. Kabat was a Senior Director at Atlas Research, supporting the US Department of Defense (DOD) Sexual Assault Prevention Office (SAPRO) and helping to lead the COVID Nursing Home Commission in collaboration with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), bringing together leaders in the public and private sectors to develop recommendations to keep nursing home residents safe during the COVID pandemic.
As a civilian with the United States Navy, Ms. Kabat served as a social worker and case manager at National Naval Medical Center from 2003. Beginning in 2011, Ms. Kabat served in leadership roles in the US Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) Caregiver Support Program, spearheading a new program to provide services and supports directly to family caregivers caring for seriously ill and injured Veterans.
Ms. Kabat is the recipient of multiple awards, including a Special Recognition Award from Disabled American Veterans (DAV), a VA Exemplary Service Award, and a VA Exceptional Service Award.
Originally from Massachusetts, Ms. Kabat holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the College of the Holy Cross and a Master of Social Work from the Catholic University of America. Ms. Kabat is the proud granddaughter of Veterans who served in World War I and World War II. Her father, a Vietnam Veteran, is buried at Massachusetts National Cemetery. Ms. Kabat lives in the Washington, DC, area with her husband and two children.
