Daniel Gade
Retired U.S. Army officer, academic, author, politician (born 1975)
Daniel Gade
Gade in 2023
Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services
In office
January 4, 2022 – January 14, 2024
Succeeded byChuck Zingler
Personal details
BornDaniel MacArthur Gade
(1975-02-07) February 7, 1975 (age 50)
Minot, North Dakota, U.S.
PartyRepublican
SpouseWendy Williams
Children3
EducationUnited States Military Academy (BS)
University of Georgia (MPA, PhD)
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Army
Years of service1992–2017
Rank Lieutenant colonel
Battles/warsIraq War
AwardsLegion of Merit
Bronze Star Medal
Purple Heart (2)

Daniel MacArthur Gade (born February 7, 1975) is an American critic of United States veterans' services and disability policies, a former political candidate, a professor and researcher, and a United States government contractor. In 2005, Gade became an amputee after receiving wounds while serving as a company commander in Ramadi, Iraq. In 2017, Gade retired from the United States Army as a Lieutenant Colonel. Gade was the Republican nominee for the 2020 election to represent Virginia in the United States Senate losing to incumbent Democrat Mark Warner.[1] He served as the Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services from 2022 to 2024.[2]

Early life and education

Daniel MacArthur Gade was born on February 7, 1975, and raised in Minot, North Dakota. In 1997, he graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science. Gade graduated with a Master of Public Administration and a Doctor of Philosophy in public administration and public policy from the University of Georgia in 2007 and 2011, respectively.[3][4]

Career

Gade with President George W. Bush in 2005

Gade was wounded in action twice and decorated for valor while serving as a tank company commander in Iraq.[5] After Gade's second injury, his entire right leg was amputated.[6] He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit.[7]

Gade has been a vocal critic of veterans' services and disability policies and equated the VA’s monthly payments to qualifying veterans as a system that rewards unemployment and disengagement.[8] Rather, Gade advocates for a system that encourages self-reliance and vocational rehabilitation.[9] He has authored a couple of scholarly articles in that field, most notably in Health Economics and the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory.[4][3] In 2012, Gade began serving as an advisor at the Philanthropy Roundtable for its veterans work.[10] In 2013, he published an article in National Affairs about disability benefits and their failure to achieve positive outcomes for disabled veterans.[11] In 2013, Gade authored an article in The Wall Street Journal arguing that disability claims in the United States Department of Veterans Affairs backlog were due in large part to the agency's expansive definition of "disability".[12] In 2021, Gade and Daniel Huang, a former Wall Street Journal financial reporter, co-authored a policy review book, Wounding Warriors: How Bad Policy Is Making Veterans Sicker and Poorer. Gade and Huang's book questioned the efficacy of existing disability services and posited that the VA “robs veterans of their vitality” and spawns a “culture of entitlement” among veterans and a pernicious “network of enablers.” Gade and Huang's book referred to veterans who served after 9/11 as “a generation that wants to be given everything even if they don’t deserve it.” The book also described veterans undergoing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder as “wannabes” because they tell their therapists “stories that sound a lot like a bad day rather than a traumatic moment.” [13] On October 29th, 2025, Gade testified before a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee that the VA system encourages veterans to be sick, that disability ratings have been misapplied and that "9 of the top 10 conditions for newly rated veterans are easily exaggerated or totally unverifiable."[14]

Gade has been involved in politics and served in the administration of President George W. Bush.[15] Gade then returned to West Point in 2011 until his 2017 retirement from the Army.[15] During this period, Gade had been appointed in 2015 to the National Council on Disability by then Speaker John Boehner.[16] In 2017, Gade was nominated to become a member of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission[15] but later withdrew from consideration citing the "toxic political climate in Washington."[17]

In 2019, Gade formed an association with American University's School of Public Affairs as a Professor of Practice.[18][19]

Gade with Youngkin in 2023

Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin nominated Gade in 2022 to lead the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Veterans Services. Gade took office on January 4, 2022 and was confirmed to the position. [20][21] [22] In 2024, Gade vacated the position and became the Chief Executive Officer of his own government contracting business. Gade's business earns profits from contracts with a variety of Federal agencies including the United States Department of Defense, NASA, the United States Department of Agriculture, the United States Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency. [23]

2020 U.S. Senate campaign

Gade was the Republican nominee for the 2020 election to represent Virginia in the United States Senate.[24] He faced adjunct professor and public school teacher Alissa Baldwin and defense contractor and retired Army intelligence officer Thomas Speciale in the Republican primary.[25] Gade became the nominee after garnering 67% of the vote while Baldwin and Speciale received 18% and 15%, respectively.[24] The seat was held by Democrat Mark Warner.[26] Warner defeated Gade and was re-elected with 56% of the vote; Gade received 44%.[27]

Personal life

Gade lives in Mount Vernon, Virginia, with his wife, Wendy, and their three children.[28] He became the paralympic world champion at the 2010 Ironman 70.3 in Clearwater, Florida.[29] President George W. Bush described cycling with Gade as "unbelievable",[30] since he "rode with one leg, navigating some really tough trails".[31] Gade is a competitive cyclist.[32]

References

  1. ^ "Daniel Gade". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2019-09-05.
  2. ^ "Daniel Gade".
  3. ^ a b Gade, D. M.; Wilkins, V. M. (22 October 2012). "Where Did You Serve? Veteran Identity, Representative Bureaucracy, and Vocational Rehabilitation". Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. 23 (2): 267–288. doi:10.1093/jopart/mus030. ISSN 1053-1858.
  4. ^ a b Gade, Daniel M.; Wenger, Jeffrey B. (April 2011). "Combat exposure and mental health: the long-term effects among US Vietnam and Gulf war veterans". Health Economics. 20 (4): 401–416. doi:10.1002/hec.1594. PMID 20336640. S2CID 205853029.
  5. ^ "National Purple Heart Hall of Honor". www.thepurpleheart.com. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  6. ^ "About". Daniel Gade for U.S. Senate. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-25.
  7. ^ Janney, Josh (May 4, 2020). "Army veteran Daniel Gade hopes to win GOP Senate nomination". The Winchester Star. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  8. ^ "Disability Fraud is a 'tiny fraction' of VA claims, advocates say". Stars and Stripes (newspaper). October 30, 2025. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  9. ^ Gade, Daniel M. "Avoiding Perverse Incentives in the Wounded Veteran’s Recovery Process." In Serving Those Who Served Archived 2022-01-20 at the Wayback Machine, edited by Thomas Meyer, 14–31. Washington, D.C.: Philanthropy Roundtable, 2013.
  10. ^ Meyer, Thomas (May 24, 2018). "Rethinking Disability: Donors launch an experiment that could spark seminal social reform". Philanthropy Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  11. ^ Gade, Daniel M. "A Better Way to Help Veterans." 16 National Affairs 53 (Summer 2013).
  12. ^ Gade, Daniel (June 23, 2013). "Why the VA Is Buried in Disability Claims". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  13. ^ Gade, Daniel; Huang, Dan (2021-10-05). Wounding Warriors. Ballast Books. ISBN 978-1-955026-99-4.
  14. ^ "Trump Is Coming for Veterans' Disability Benefits". The American Prospect. December 8, 2025. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
  15. ^ a b c "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts". The White House. July 31, 2017. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021. Retrieved 2020-08-06.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  16. ^ "Lt. Colonel Daniel M. Gade, Ph.D. Appointed to the National Council on Disability by Speaker of the House of Representatives". National Council on Disability. October 13, 2015. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  17. ^ Smith, Paige (December 21, 2018). "White House Republican Nominee for EEOC Withdraws". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  18. ^ "Daniel Gade Joins Faculty". American University. 25 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Daniel Gade: IR Professorial Lecturer Department of Public Administration and Policy". American University.
  20. ^ Vozzella, Laura (January 4, 2022). "Virginia Gov.-elect Youngkin names veterans, agriculture secretaries". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-01-06.
  21. ^ Gordon, Suzanne; Early, Steve (February 10, 2022). "A VA Critic Becomes Virginia's New Veterans Affairs Chief". Washington Monthly. Retrieved July 13, 2025.
  22. ^ "Daniel Gade, PhD". Virginia Department of Veterans Services.
  23. ^ "Daniel Gade".
  24. ^ a b Albiges, Marie (June 24, 2020). "Daniel Gade secures Republican Senate nomination, with Scott Taylor winning 2nd District GOP spot". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  25. ^ Albiges, Marie (June 18, 2020). "No big-name Republicans to challenge Warner for U.S. Senate". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  26. ^ Suderman, Alan (June 19, 2020). "No big-name Republicans to challenge Warner for U.S. Senate". Associated Press. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  27. ^ "2020 November General". Virginia Department of Elections (elections.virginia.gov). Archived from the original on 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  28. ^ Martin, Brandon (April 4, 2020). "Gade seeks GOP nod, hopes to make impact in Washington". Henry County Enterprise. Retrieved May 10, 2020. Gade lives in Mount Vernon, with his wife Wendy and three children.
  29. ^ "Daniel M. Gade". George W. Bush Presidential Center. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  30. ^ Eloise, Ogden (March 7, 2017). "'Portraits of Courage' Two wounded warriors with Minot ties in President Bush's new book". Minot Daily News. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
  31. ^ Bush, George W. (2017). Portraits of Courage: A Commander in Chief's Tribute to America's Warriors. New York: Crown (Penguin Random House). p. 82. ISBN 978-0-8041-8976-7. OCLC 965543768.
  32. ^ "Dan Gade". Challenged Athletes Foundation. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
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