Senate confirms Doug Collins as Secretary of Veterans Affairs

The Senate on Tuesday confirmed former Rep. Doug Collins to head the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

In the vote, Collins, an Air Force veteran who served in Iraq, won one of the largest bipartisan votes (77 to 23).

Collins additionally was a chaplain in the Air Force Reserve and served in Congress from 2013 to 2021, where he defended President Donald Trump during the 2019 impeachment investigation.

The former representative will now lead an agency that has been plagued by budget shortfalls, million-dollar payouts to ineligible executives and veterans' complaints about long waits for care. It will be his first time leading an organization as sprawling as the VA, with its 400,000 employees and 1,300 healthcare facilities.

President Trump in running for his nomination in November 2024, said "we must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our active duty service members, veterans and military families to ensure they have the support they need."

Collins pledged on January 25 of that same year, in a speech to the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, that, "If confirmed, I promise that I will always put veterans first. They will have a tireless advocate by their side."

Thus, the Air Force veteran becomes the latest addition to Trump's Cabinet.