James Byrne

Education Byrne receive an undergraduate engineering degree from the United States Naval Academy, where he was a Secretary of the Navy 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.

Byrne served as a deployed Marine Infantry Officer for six years before transferring into the Marine Corps Reserves. 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.

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.

Department of Veterans Affairs From 2017 to 2019, Byrne served as VA's General Counsel,

On August 28, 2018, Trump named Byrne as Acting Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs. He was confirmed by the Senate on September 11, 2019 and was sworn in on September 16, 2019. Byrne retired from government service on February 3, 2020.

Corporate Senior Executive and Board Director Since his departure from the VA he now works as a Vice President at Lockheed Martin Corporation, serves on several corporate and non-profit boards, and advocates for veterans.