| Article found in Politico |
President-elect Donald Trump has nominated one of his previous attorneys and former GOP House member Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Collins, 58, a staunch Trump supporter and frequent Fox News guest, served in Congress representing a Georgia district from 2013 to 2021. Collins is an Air Force Reserve chaplain and served in Iraq.
“Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need,” Trump said in a statement Thursday evening.
A Trump administration VA is expected to roll back a Biden administration policy that allows the agency to provide abortion counseling and, in some cases, the procedure itself, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision.
If confirmed, Collins will have to grapple with financial issues at the agency stemming from a bipartisan 2022 law that expanded benefits for veterans exposed to Agent Orange and other toxins. That’s made the agency responsible for the care of more veterans than ever, and generated billions of dollars in budget shortfalls.
Collins also will inherit the VA’s beleaguered electronic health records overhaul that proved to be a thorn in the side of the Trump and Biden administrations. The project is billions of dollars over budget, is on pause indefinitely and has been tied to at least four veterans’ deaths and a slew of safety risks — an issue Collins will likely have to address in his Senate confirmation process.
On Thursday, Collins pledged to slash regulations and cut “corruption” in a post on X.
“We’ll fight tirelessly to streamline and cut regulations in the VA, root out corruption, and ensure every veteran receives the benefits they’ve earned,” Collins said. “Together, we’ll make the VA work for those who fought for us. Time to deliver for our veterans and give them the world class care they deserve.”
Collins helped defend Trump in his first House impeachment over Ukraine aid. Trumped faced two articles of impeachment — abuse of power and obstruction of Congress — and the Senate later voted to acquit him on both counts.
The Collins choice is part of a growing trend of Trump rewarding those who have been loyal to him. Collins also represented Trump in matters relating to Congress’ investigations of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Collins ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2020, getting knocked out of a primary against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.). Trump had previously pushed GOP Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to select Collins to fill an empty seat, but Kemp picked Loeffler instead.
Collins opted not to run for a Georgia Senate seat in 2022 in a race that Herschel Walker, the former NFL running back, ultimately lost to Warnock.
