President Donald Trump’s nominees to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were advanced by two Senate panels on Jan. 23.
Former Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), who Trump tapped to helm the VA, was advanced with bipartisan support by the Senate Veteran Affairs Committee on Thursday, one day after his testimony.
Collins Commits to Veterans First
Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said on Thursday he supports Collins’s nomination and his transparency with the committee.“I appreciate his first-hand experience. I appreciate what he brings to the table as a veteran, as a military chaplain, a lawyer, and a lawmaker,” Moran said.
“I think we can work together with the new secretary to improve the lives of veterans and their families, caregivers and survivors.”
Ranking member Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also supported advancing Collins’s nomination despite concerns over Trump’s intended hiring freeze at the VA.
“Hopefully, he'll be the kind of advocate that we really are going to need in this era when the challenges will be greater than ever before—fiscally and the pressure to scale back, to cut costs to pursue harmful policies that may negatively affect our veterans,” Blumenthal said.
“I welcome the opportunity to work and advocate with him in the administration and improve services for veterans in Connecticut and across the country.”
He emphasized the health risks that many veterans face, particularly from toxin and burn pit exposure in combat zones.
“I’m an Iraq war veteran. I understand burn pits because I slept next to one for many months. I understand this generation that went for time and time and again, deployment after deployment,” Collins said.
While Trump has advocated cost-cutting policies throughout federal agencies, Collins vowed to put veterans’ care ahead of any budgetary slashes.
“We’re not going to balance budgets on the back of veterans’ benefits. We’re not going to do that. We’re going to put the veteran first,” Collins told the committee.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) told Collins that she would hold him to his promise to prioritize veterans ahead of any budget reductions.
“Cutting direct care people in a health care system, cutting people who coordinate care so that veterans can get integrated care can really, really harm veterans,” she said.
Collins would enter his role as VA secretary with years of experience as a veteran in the chaplain service. After a brief stint in the U.S. Navy, Collins returned to the Air Force Reserve. He was deployed to Iraq in 2008 and is still in the Air Force Reserve, with the rank of colonel and serves as a chaplain.
Zeldin Testifies for EPA Role
Zeldin faced questions from the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works on Jan. 16, where he pledged to “harness the greatness of American innovation with the greatness of American conservation and environmental stewardship.”“We must ensure we are protecting the environment while also protecting our economy,” Zeldin said.
He also noted his bipartisan efforts protecting the Long Island Sound while in Congress.
“The American people need leaders who can find common ground to solve the urgent issues we face,” Zeldin said.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) cited studies and news reports on the human health risks of microplastics and nanoplastics, particularly on human fertility. Zeldin noted that the topic was obviously “an issue of great interest and passion” for Merkley.
“I would look forward to an opportunity to be able to read what you’re referencing specifically, just so that I can become intimately familiar with any detail that you’re citing that I have not read before,” Zeldin said.
Zeldin also told Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that he believed climate change is real. Still, Sanders pressed him to say whether it amounts to an “existential threat” for humanity and if there must be an “urgency to get our act together to address it.”
“We must with urgency be addressing these issues,” Zeldin replied, adding that he would pressure other countries on environmental policy.
Zeldin also acknowledged a link between greenhouse gas emissions and rising ocean temperatures.
“That’s what the scientists tell me,” he said.
Zeldin represented New York’s First Congressional District from 2015 to 2023. He unsuccessfully ran for governor of New York in 2022, prevailing in the GOP primary before losing to Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
