United States Secretary of Defense to die was Frank Carlucci (1987–1989), on 3 June 2018. United States Secretary of Defense The Secretary of Defense (SecDef) is the leader and chief executive officer of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the Armed Forces of the United States. The Secretary of Defense's position of command and authority over the United States' military is second only to that of the President and Congress, respectively. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in many other countries. The Secretary of Defense is appointed by the President with the advice and consent
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs Secretary of Defense and Assistant "to" the Secretary of Defense five times, largely because the Secretary of Defense has historically been authorized a limited number of assistant secretaries. The position was given statutory standing as the "Assistant Secretary of Defense (Legislative Affairs)" by the National Defense Authorization Act for FY1994 (P.L. 103-160), passed November 30, 1993. The table below includes both the various titles of this post over time, as well as all the holders of those offices. The annual budget for the ASD(LA) is contained in the OSD's budget, under the Defense-Wide Operation and Maintenance (O&M) account. The Obama