The Honorable Patricia L. Ross was nominated by President Biden on April 7, 2021 and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 24, 2021 to serve as Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs. In her role, she leads and manages the Office for Congressional and Legislative Affairs and serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Under Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries on all matters involving congressional and legislative affairs and its impact on the Department of Veterans Affairs. She facilitates and oversees coordinating the Department’s activities with Members of Congress and Committees of jurisdiction as well as maintaining responsive and effective communications with Congress.
Before arriving at VA, Ms. Ross was formerly a Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of the Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), where she served for nearly a decade. She led a broad domestic policy portfolio in both the Speaker’s Leadership and Congressional Offices, covering veterans’ affairs and military families, agriculture and nutrition, education and labor. Over the course of her tenure, Ms. Ross had a direct hand in major bipartisan agreements in these arenas, including the COVID-19 response, CHOICE Act, MISSION Act, Forever GI Bill, Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans Act, Deborah Sampson Act, Every Student Succeeds Act, 2014 and 2018 Farm Bills, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, Child Care Development Block Grant Act and ending the Widows and Kiddie Tax. Ms. Ross also supported and helped coordinate overseas travel for multiple bipartisan Congressional delegations, including the commemorative events for the 75th anniversary of the Allied D-Day landings in Normandy and Battle of the Bulge, as well as staffed multiple State of the Union addresses, Inaugurations and Joint Addresses to Congress by heads of state.
Ms. Ross is the partner, granddaughter, niece and daughter of Veterans. Proudly hailing from Ohio, she is a graduate of The College of Wooster (Ohio) and currently lives in Washington, D.C. with her partner and two dogs.
