The Senate confirmed former Rep. Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans’ Affairs on Tuesday.
Collins scored one of the widest bipartisan votes of any Trump Cabinet nominee so far: 77 to 23. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was confirmed 99-0.
The Air Force Reserve chaplain served in Congress from 2013 to 2021, where he defended President Donald Trump during the 2019 impeachment inquiry.
Collins also passed through the Veterans’ Affairs Committee on a wide bipartisan vote – only Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, had voted against him.
Collins will now head off an agency marred by budget shortfalls, millions paid out to executives who weren’t eligible to receive them, and complaints from veterans of long wait times for care. It’ll be his first time leading an organization as sprawling as the VA and its 400,000 employees and 1,300 health facilities.
HAWAII’S HIRONO ONLY SENATOR TO VOTE NO ON COLLINS, CONTINUING PARTISAN STREAK AT HEARINGS
“I do not come into this with rose-colored glasses. This is a large undertaking that I feel called to be at,” Collins said. “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 focus on budget cuts and a hiring freeze, Collins said he would work to ensure that did not come at the expense of veterans’ care.
“I’m gonna take care of the veterans. That means that we’re not gonna balance budgets on the back of 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 believe you can have both. I believe you have a strong VA as it currently exists and have the community care aspect,” he said.
Democrats repeatedly asked Collins to promise not to privatize the VA, so many times that Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., asked him to “pinky swear” not to do it. Collins held up his pinky to promise that would not happen.
