of commerce; and Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen as secretary of the treasury, exceeding by one the record set by President Barack Obama. However, including cabinet reshuffles during his second term in office, Obama still holds the record for most women appointed to permanent cabinet positions with eight, the most of any presidency, therefore surpassing George W. Bush's previous record of six appointees. The Department of Labor has had the most female secretaries, with seven. The Department of Health and Human Services has had five; the Department of Commerce has had four; the departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, State, and Transportation have had three; the departments of Energy, Homeland Security, and Justice have had two; and the departments of Agriculture and Treasury have had one. The departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs are the only existing executive departments that do not have female secretaries yet. The totals for this list include only women presidential appointees confirmed (if necessary) by the United States 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 women who have held permanent Cabinet positions, 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 ranked according to presidential order of succession. denotes the first female holder of that particular office Former permanent Cabinet members The Secretary of War became defunct when the Department of War was split between the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force by the National Security Act of 1947, and both were absorbed into the Department of Defense in 1949. No woman had ever served while it was a Cabinet post. The Postmaster General ceased to be a member of the Cabinet when the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service (USPS) by the Postal Reorganization Act. No woman had ever served while it was a Cabinet post. Megan Brennan became the first woman to serve as Postmaster General in 2015. She was appointed after USPS became an independent agency of the executive branch. The Secretary of Commerce and Labor became renamed when the Department of Commerce and Labor was split between the Department of Commerce and