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Thursday, February 13, 2025

Blumenthal urges new VA Secretary Doug Collins to oppose harmful directives

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Jerry Moran - Ranking member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee | Official U.S. Senate headshot

Jerry Moran - Ranking member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee | Official U.S. Senate headshot

Following his confirmation vote, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) has called on VA Secretary Doug Collins to uphold the commitments he made during his confirmation hearing. Blumenthal emphasized the need for Collins to prioritize veterans and resist directives perceived as harmful to them and their families.

In a letter addressed to Collins, Blumenthal urged the Secretary to act on his promises, stating, "to put those words into action, to rise to this challenge, and to immediately and strongly push back against President Trump’s destructive actions that have undermined VA’s mission." He highlighted the Trump Administration's hiring freeze at the Veterans Benefits Administration and federal funding freezes as issues requiring urgent attention. Blumenthal described these actions as "a betrayal of trust for veterans."

"As Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, I plan to hold you accountable for the assurances you made throughout your confirmation process," wrote Blumenthal. He stressed that Collins' success and credibility would depend significantly on his initial actions in office.

Blumenthal outlined specific demands for Secretary Collins: exempting VA employees from President Trump's hiring freeze, ensuring financial assistance programs for veterans are not affected by funding freezes, re-appointing Mike Missal as VA Inspector General, protecting reproductive health care for women veterans under CHAMPVA by clarifying Executive Order 14182 does not apply to VA operations, addressing directives affecting due process rights of VA employees, rescinding threatening correspondence regarding Diversity programs violations, restricting Department of Government Efficiency access to VA data systems, and clearly communicating these actions.

At his nomination hearing, Blumenthal had pressed Collins on resisting policies detrimental to veterans' healthcare delivery. The current hiring freeze affects critical positions within the VA. While some exemptions were later granted by the Trump Administration for certain healthcare roles at the VA, many essential positions remain excluded.

A background memo is available detailing harmful actions taken by the Trump Administration impacting veterans and VA employees in its first two weeks.

The full text of Senator Blumenthal's letter is accessible below:

"Dear Secretary Collins,

Congratulations on your confirmation as Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Having a Senate-confirmed leader in this role helps ensure VA is held accountable... Today is your opportunity... I urge you to take the following actions without delay...

Without immediate and decisive action... During your nomination hearing... Today, I call on you..."

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