WASHINGTON, D.C. — Former Georgia Rep. Doug Collins will appear before the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs committee for his confirmation hearing on Tuesday.
The Senate committee originally scheduled for Collins, who is President Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department, to testify last week. However, the FBI hadn’t completed its customary background check yet and the committee postponed the hearing.
Collins will begin testifying at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. If he is confirmed, Collins would lead the Veterans Affairs Department in the new Trump administration.
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For his military background, Collins served as a U.S. Navy chaplain for two years in the 1980s. He later joined the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a chaplain in wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. He remains a colonel in the Air Force Reserve.
Collins’ political career began in 2007 and served three terms in the Georgia State House until 2013. He later won his seat in U.S. Congress in 2012 and represented Georgia’s 9th Congressional District until 2021.
During his time in Congress, Collins became the House Republican Conference’s vice chair and a ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee.
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Collins has been an ally for Trump since his first term as president.
Collins defended Trump during special counsel Robert Muller’s investigation and during Trump’s impeachment hearings. He even wrote a book , “The Clock and the Calendar,” in support of Trump and argued that Democrats were impeaching the president to get revenge for his 2016 win.
Trump meanwhile pushed for Collins to be appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2019 when former Sen. Johnny Isakson stepped down for his health. Collins ran for Senate and finished third in special election for the Republican nomination.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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