Biden taps Virginia native for U.S. AbilityOne Commission

A former Virginia attorney and George Mason University School of Law graduate has been appointed to the U.S. AbilityOne Commission.

Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower & Reserve Affairs Robert D. Hogue was appointed to the commission by President Joe Biden on Oct. 12, according to a media release from the White House.

The commission, whose statutory name is the Committee for Purchase From People Who Are Blind or Severely Disabled, consists of 15 members appointed by the president, with four private citizens and 11 representatives of federal agencies. Hogue will represent the Department of the Navy on the commission. 

A Virginia native, Hogue earned his undergraduate degree from George Washington University before earning his law degree from George Mason University, where he served as associate editor of the Law Review. He has experience practicing law in both the public and private sector and is a member of the Virginia bar, according to the White House. 

Prior to taking his current position, Hogue served for 17 years as Counsel for the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, where he acted as the senior legal advisor to senior leaders within the Marine Corps and led 120 legal professionals located worldwide. According to the White House, Hogue led the delivery of legal services including business and commercial law, acquisition and fiscal matters, civilian personnel matters and national security law.

Hogue began his career as a civil rights attorney before serving as counsel to numerous programs in the Department of the Navy, specifically in the areas of major systems acquisition and environmental management. He was appointed to the senior executive service in 2000, serving as the Deputy Counsel for the Commandant before being appointed the chief financial management attorney for the Department of the Navy. He left that role to become Counsel for the Commandant in 2004. 

Hogue is a survivor of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and received the Defense of Freedom Medal, the civilian equivalent of the Purple Heart, for injuries incurred during the attack. 

The U.S. AbilityOne Commission is the independent federal agency that oversees the AbilityOne Program, one of the nation’s largest sources of employment for people who are “blind or have significant disabilities.” It provides employment opportunities to approximately 40,000 people, including more than 2,500 veterans, to provide “mission-essential products and services to federal agencies” at approximately 450 nonprofit agencies.