The Cabinet of the United States, which is the principal advisory body to the president of the United States, has had 47 Jewish American members altogether. Of that number, 27 different Jewish American individuals held a total of 27 permanent cabinet posts, having served as the heads of the federal executive departments; 20 different Jewish Americans have held 21 cabinet-level positions, which can differ under each president; and four officeholders served in both cabinet and cabinet-rank roles.
The first Jewish cabinet member was Oscar Straus, appointed Secretary of Commerce and Labor by President Theodore Roosevelt. The first Jewish woman to serve as cabinet member was Penny Pritzker who served as Secretary of Commerce under President Barack Obama. The greatest number of Jewish cabinet members appointed by a president is six by President Bill Clinton, followed by four each by presidents Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden.
The highest ranking Jewish cabinet members are Henry Kissinger and Antony Blinken, both of whom served a secretary of state. Before that, the highest ranking Jewish cabinet member was Henry Morgenthau Jr., who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury, but he was higher ranking in the line of succession. Janet Yellen, who served as Treasury Secretary, is the highest ranking Jewish woman to hold a cabinet post. Two Jewish cabinet secretaries were immigrants to the United States: Kissinger, Secretary of State under presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and W. Michael Blumenthal, Secretary of the Treasury under President Jimmy Carter.
The United States Department of the Treasury has had the greatest number of Jewish appointees, with seven. The United States Department of Commerce has had four. The United States Department of Justice has had three. The Departments of State, Defense, Labor, Health, Education, and Welfare, and Homeland Security each have had two. The Departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, and Commerce and Labour (now defunct) have had one each. The Departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development, and the Interior have had none.
The totals for this list include only Jewish American presidential appointees confirmed (if necessary) by the U.S. Senate to cabinet or cabinet-level positions and taking their oath of office; they do not include acting officials or nominees awaiting confirmation.
Permanent cabinet members The following list includes Jewish Americans who have held permanent positions in the cabinet, all of whom are in the line of succession to the presidency. The table below is organized based on the beginning of their terms in office. Officeholders whose terms begin the same day are listed according to the presidential order of succession.
denotes the first Jewish holder of that particular office NameOfficeSuccessionStartEndPartyPresident(s)1*Secretary of Commerce and Labor—Republican(1901–1909)2*Secretary of the Treasury3Democratic(1933–1945)(1945–1953)3Secretary of Labor13(1961–1963)4*Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare135Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare13(1963–1969)6*Secretary of State4Republican(1969–1974)(1974–1977)7*Attorney General78*Secretary of Defense6Democratic(1977–1981)9Secretary of the Treasury510*Secretary of Transportation1311Secretary of Commerce1012Secretary of Commerce10Republican(1989–1993)13Secretary of Labor11Democratic(1993–2001)14Secretary of the Treasury515*Secretary of Agriculture916Secretary of Commerce1017Secretary of Defense6Republican18 Secretary of the Treasury5Democratic19*Secretary of Homeland Security18Republican(2001–2009)20Attorney General7.21Secretary of the Treasury5Democratic(2009–2017)22Secretary of Commerce1023Secretary of the Treasury5Republican(2017–2021)24*Secretary of Veteran Affairs17Independent25Secretary of State4Democratic(2021–2025)26Secretary of the Treasury527Secretary of Homeland Security1828Attorney General729Secretary of Commerce10IncumbentRepublican(2025–present)
Cabinet-level officials The president may designate or remove additional officials as cabinet members. These positions have not always been in the cabinet, so some Jewish American officeholders may not be listed.
The following list includes Jewish Americans who have held cabinet-rank positions, which can vary under each president. They are not in the line of succession and are not necessarily officers of the United States. The table below is organized based on the beginning of their terms in office while it was raised to cabinet-level status. Officeholders whose terms begin the same day are listed alphabetically by last name.
denotes the first Jewish holder of that particular office
NameOfficeStartEndPartyPresident(s)1*United States Ambassador to the United NationsDemocratic(1963–1969)2*United States Trade Representative(1977–1981)3*White House Chief of StaffRepublican(1981–1989)4United States Trade RepresentativeDemocratic(1993–2001)5*Director of Central Intelligence6*Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers7Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers8United States Trade RepresentativeJewish Woman's Archive: "Charlene Barshefsky" by Robert D. Johnson retrieved November 19, 20129*Director of the Office of Management and Budget10Director of the Office of Management and BudgetRepublican(2001–2009)Tablet Magazine: "Talking to W’s Chief of Staff – At the GOP convention, Josh Bolten reminisces about introducing President Bush to shmurah matzo" By Yair Rosenberg August 30, 2012.White House Chief of Staff11White House Chief of StaffDemocratic(2009–2017)12Director of the Office of Management and Budget13Director of the Office of Management and BudgetWhite House Chief of Staff14Chair of the Council of Economic AdvisersThe Jewish Daily Forward: "Meet the Four Jews Shaping the U.S. Economy" By Nathan Guttman February 28, 201315United States Trade RepresentativeJewish News Service Algemeiner: "Obama Cites US-Israel Bond in Jewish American Heritage Month Declaration" May 1, 201316Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers17White House Chief of Staff(2021–2025)18*Director of National Intelligence19*Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy20White House Chief of Staff21Chair of the Council of Economic AdvisersBiden Picks Jared Bernstein as Economic Adviser Shear, Michael D. Washington Post. December 5, 2008. Accessed December 6, 2008.22*Administrator of the Environmental Protection AgencyIncumbentRepublican(2025–present)
See also List of Jewish American politicians List of Jewish members of the United States Congress List of Jewish political milestones in the United States List of Hispanic and Latino American United States Cabinet members List of African-American United States Cabinet members List of female United States Cabinet members List of foreign-born United States Cabinet members
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