Veterans' Affairs, Department of

US government department created by Congress in 1989, succeeding the Veterans Administration. The government's second-largest department, it is responsible for a nationwide system of health-care services, benefits programmes, and national cemeteries for US veterans and their dependants. Around 70 million people, or a quarter of the US population, are potentially eligible for Veteran Affairs benefits because they are veterans, members of veterans' families, or survivors of veterans. The department employs around 220,000 people (2003). The secretary of veterans' affairs is Jim Nicholson (from 2005).