Honorable Richard F. Topping

The Honorable Richard F. Topping was appointed by President Donald J. Trump to serve as the Assistant Secretary for Management and Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and confirmed by the Senate on July 24, 2025. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing the Department's $441 billion budget as well as financial and capital asset management, healthcare program management and costs and business oversight functions. In addition, he is responsible for the roll-out of VA's new integrated financial and acquisition system

Prior to his confirmation, he served as Chief Legal Officer for CareSource, where he led the company's administrative operations. Mr. Topping was also President of CareSource Military & Veterans and pioneered the company's work to improve health and wellness outcomes for veterans, active-duty service members, and their families. Before joining CareSource, Mr. Topping was a member of Mintz's healthcare practice representing health plans and insurers. He also played a key role in supporting the healthcare finance and innovation provisions of President Trump's 2018 MISSION Act, which significantly improved veterans' access to healthcare.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Topping was a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice representing the Secretary of Health and Human Services. He also served as counsel at the Center for Bioethics at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Mr. Topping began his public service as a U.S. Army infantry officer and later as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer, focusing on TRICARE and health care finance.

Mr. Topping has also held key leadership roles shaping policy and innovation at the state level and in the private sector. He previously served as CEO of Cardinal Innovations Healthcare, the nation's first Medicaid managed care plan providing capitated Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and behavioural health services. In North Carolina, he was appointed by Governor Pat McCrory to help draft and secure passage of McCrory's landmark 2015 Medicaid reform legislation, which improved the quality of healthcare in North Carolina and reduced costs, without expanding the state's Medicaid program.

CAREER CHRONOLOGY:

2025 – Present Assistant Secretary for Management and Chief Financial Officer

2018 – 2024 Chief Legal Officer and President CareSource

2018 – 2020 Special Counsel Mintz

2009 – 2017 Chief Executive Officer Cardinal

2007 – 2008 Trial Attorney U.S. Department of Justice

EDUCATION:

2007 Master of Public Health in health law and policy from Harvard University

2001 Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut

1998 Bachelor of Arts in political science from the College of the Holy Cross