Final month, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins confirmed he’s searching for to scale back the division’s workforce again to its 2019 ranges.
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) introduced on April 1 that he would impose a blanket maintain on all Division of Veterans Affairs nominees in protest of a plan to chop greater than 80,000 jobs on the division.
Regardless of Collins’s efforts to reassure the general public, Gallego has continued to specific issues that the cuts will negatively affect the providers on which Veterans Affairs beneficiaries rely.
Typically, the U.S. Senate advances a number of nominees by way of the affirmation course of without delay, in what’s referred to as an en bloc motion. Such an en bloc motion requires the Senate to behave by unanimous consent.
Now and again, senators have imposed a blanket maintain on such en bloc actions as a method of protesting a disfavored coverage. Ought to a senator impose such a maintain, the physique can nonetheless verify nominees, however it has to take action one after the other in a slower and extra deliberative course of.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) imposed a blanket maintain on all Protection Division nominees in 2023 in protest of a coverage that allowed the division to fund go away and journey bills for personnel searching for abortions. Tuberville contended that the Protection Division coverage violated the Hyde Modification, which broadly prohibits using federal funds to pay for abortions.
The Division of Veterans Affairs has 13 positions requiring Senate affirmation, in accordance with the Partnership for Public Service. Collins at present holds one of many positions, whereas Veterans Affairs Deputy Secretary Paul Lawrence holds a second. President Donald Trump has chosen nominees for 5 different positions within the division.
In his March 5 video assertion, Collins outlined how the Division of Veterans Affairs would carry out extra effectively, together with by reviewing its numerous contracts. He mentioned upon reviewing simply 2 p.c of the division’s contracts, the division has managed to eradicate 600 agreements that he mentioned weren’t mission-critical or duplicative, and would save the division round $900 million.
Veterans Affairs press secretary Pete Kasperowicz emailed an announcement to The Epoch Instances on Tuesday about Gallego’s transfer.
“Think about how significantly better off Veterans can be if lawmakers like Sen. Gallego cared as a lot about fixing VA as they do about defending the division’s damaged forms,” Kasperowicz mentioned.
The Related Press contributed to this report.