On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed former Representative Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Collins received one of the most bipartisan votes of any Trump cabinet nominee thus far: 77 to 23. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was confirmed 99-0.
From 2013 to 2021, the Air Force Reserve chaplain served in Congress, where he defended President Donald Trump during the 2019 impeachment hearings.
Collins also passed the Veterans’ Affairs Committee with a broad bipartisan vote; only Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, voted against him.
Collins will now lead an agency plagued by budget cuts, millions paid to executives who were not eligible, and complaints from veterans about long wait times for care.
It will be his first time leading an organization as large as the VA, which has 400,000 employees and 1,300 health facilities.
“I don’t approach this with rose-colored glasses. Collins stated, “This is a large undertaking that I feel called to be involved in.” “When a veteran has to call a congressman or senator’s office to get the care they have already earned, it’s a mark of failure.”
In response to questions about Trump’s emphasis on budget cuts and hiring freezes, Collins stated that he would work to ensure that veterans’ care did not suffer as a result.
“I will take care of the veterans. That means we’re not going to balance budgets using veterans’ benefits.”
Collins said he aligned with Trump on allowing veterans choice for their healthcare. Trump during his first term pushed through the Mission Act, which allowed veterans to choose the VA or private care in their communities.
“I think you can have both. “I believe you have a strong VA as it currently exists, as well as the community care aspect,” he stated.
Democrats repeatedly asked Collins to promise not to privatize the VA, to the point where Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, asked him to “pinky swear” not to do so. Collins raised his pinky to promise that this would not happen.
