President-elect Donald Trump has nominated one of his former lawyers and former GOP House member Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Collins, 58, an avid Trump supporter and frequent Fox News guest, served in Congress from 2013 to 2021, representing a district in Georgia. Collins is an Air Force Reserve chaplain and served in Iraq.
“Doug will be a strong advocate for our active duty service members, veterans and military families to ensure they get the support they need,” Trump said in a statement Thursday evening.
A Trump administration VA is expected to reverse the Biden administration’s policy that allowed the agency to provide abortion counseling and, in some cases, the procedure itself, in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling. Dobbs decision.
If confirmed, Collins will face financial challenges at the agency stemming from a bipartisan 2022 bill that expands benefits for veterans exposed to Agent Orange and other toxins. That has left the agency responsible for caring for more veterans than ever and generated billions of dollars in budget shortfalls.
Collins will also inherit the beleaguered overhaul of the VA’s electronic health records, which proved to be a thorn in the side of the Trump and Biden administrations. The project is billions of dollars over budget, on hold indefinitely and linked to the deaths of at least four veterans and a host of safety risks — an issue Collins will likely have to address in his Senate confirmation process.
On Thursday, Collins promised in a post on X to relax regulations and eliminate “corruption.”
“We will fight tirelessly to streamline and reduce regulations in the VA, root out corruption and ensure every veteran receives the benefits he or she has earned,” Collins said. “Together we will make the VA work for those who fought for us. Time to make a difference for our veterans and give them the world-class care they deserve.”
Collins helped defend Trump in his first impeachment in the House of Representatives for aiding Ukraine. 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 choice of Collins is part of a growing trend of Trump rewarding those who have been loyal to him. Collins also represented Trump in matters related to Congress’ investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Collins unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2020 and was eliminated in a primary against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.). Trump had previously urged Georgia Governor Brian Kemp to select Collins to fill an empty seat, but Kemp chose Loeffler instead.
Collins opted not to run for a Georgia Senate seat in 2022, in a race that former NFL running back Herschel Walker ultimately lost to Warnock.
