Collins becomes first post-9/11 vet to be confirmed as VA secretary

Senate lawmakers on Tuesday confirmed former Georgia congressman Doug Collins as the next Veterans Affairs Secretary, putting a post-9/11 veteran into the Cabinet post for the first time.

Collins, 58, served in both the Navy and Air Force Reserve as a chaplain and deployed to Iraq as a member of the 94th Airlift Wing. During his confirmation hearing Jan. 21, he talked about experiencing toxic burn-pit smoke firsthand while overseas and counseling service members about the mental stresses of combat deployments.

“I understand the issues many veterans face because they’ve impacted me or those with whom I’ve served,” Collins told lawmakers at the event.

The former House Republican lawmaker was confirmed by a bipartisan 77-23 vote in the Senate, a contrast to many of the close and contentious roll calls for other nominees of President Donald Trump.

Collins has close ties to the commander-in-chief, serving as a legal counsel for Trump since leaving Congress three years ago. He also appeared on the campaign trail with Trump throughout the summer during his reelection campaign.

Collins has questioned the validity of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to former President Joe Biden.

Now, he’ll take over an agency with a budget of over $350 billion and more than 450,000 employees, responsible for distributing benefits and health care services to more than 9 million veterans nationwide.

Opposition to Collins was centered largely on his position on abortion. Collins has been a fierce critic of abortion access in the past, and during his confirmation hearing he refused to commit to keeping current policies on abortion services at VA.

“We will look at this [abortion] rule and see if it complies with the law,” he told senators. “It is a debatable issue. We’re going to look at it and make sure that the VA is following the law.”

The White House has already announced Chris Syrek will serve as chief of staff to Collins. Cheryl Mason, Karen Brazell, Curt Cashour, Lavin Gartland and John Bartrum will all serve as senior advisors to the secretary.

In early January, Trump nominated former Republican Nevada Senate candidate Sam Brown to serve as head of cemetery and memorial affairs for VA. The administration has not announced plans to start the process for choosing the under secretary of health or under secretary of benefits, posts which require a lengthy review process with outside advocates.

Immediately after Collins’ confirmation, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. — who voted for Collins — sent a letter to the new secretary congratulating him on the result but also charging him to ensure that veterans services and programs are protected in the new administration.

“Over the past two weeks, we have seen an unprecedented number of dangerous and unlawful actions from the White House that will decrease access to care for veterans across the country, delay delivery of recently-expanded benefits for toxic-exposed veterans and their families, and disrupt a wide array of critical services and opportunities they rely upon,” he wrote. “This deluge of harmful actions is a betrayal of trust for veterans, and must be reversed quickly and unequivocally.”

Among the requests from Blumenthal are an exemption from the White House’s federal hiring freeze for all VA jobs; the re-appointment of Mike Missal as VA Inspector General; and the blocking all Department of Government Efficiency employees from accessing veterans’ health care records and personal data.

Officials from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America noted the historic nature of Collin’s confirmation, making him the first post-9/11 servicemember to serve in the top veterans policy job.

“What remains to be seen, however, is if we can also count on Secretary Collins to also ensure that our generation of veterans’ unique needs are effectively prioritized as he leads VA,” IAVA CEO and Iraq War veteran Allison Jaslow said in a statement. “We nevertheless remain hopeful that he’ll do right by our nation’s veterans as he steps in to lead the VA at such a consequential time for the agency.”

Collins is expected to be sworn in as secretary in the next few days.