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\n

Abortion politics took center stage at the Tuesday morning confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to run the Department of Veterans Affairs.<\/p>\n

VA Secretary nominee Doug Collins, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, was asked more than once by Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Democrats whether he would roll back a Biden administration rule allowing the agency to provide abortion counseling and, in some cases, the procedure itself.<\/p>\n

The previous administration put that policy in place<\/a> to protect reproductive health services in the VA following the 2022 Supreme Court decision striking down the constitutional right to an abortion.<\/p>\n

Republicans have slammed the rule, however, saying it violates a 1992 law barring abortion care for military veterans or retirees through the VA healthcare system. The Trump administration is expected to overturn it, but Collins declined to take a definitive position.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law from 1992 says the VA does not do abortion,\u201d Collins said in response to one question from Sen. Patty Murray<\/a> (D-Wash.) about whether a veteran who had been raped should be able to receive an abortion covered by the VA. \u201cWe will look at this rule and see if it complies with the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democrats also pressed Collins on the now-infamous Heritage Foundation\u2019s \u201cProject 2025\u201d policy blueprint for a GOP presidential administration, which warned the VA could be \u201ctarget rich\u201d for cost-cutting measures in the Trump administration. The document, among other things, endorsed policy changes that could result in reduced benefits for disabled veterans.<\/p>\n

Collins sought to distance himself from the blueprint: \u201cI have not been a part of Project 2025 and haven\u2019t even read it,\u201d he said in a response to a question from Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee ranking member Richard Blumenthal<\/a> (D-Conn.) about the proposals.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not going to balance budgets on the back of veterans\u2019 benefits,\u201d Collins continued. \u201cWe\u2019re going to put the veterans first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins is a staunch Trump supporter who served in Congress from 2013 to 2021. His military background is as an Air Force Reserve chaplain and Iraq War veteran \u2014 experience he touted during his confirmation hearing.<\/p>\n

He was asked Tuesday by members of both parties about the agency\u2019s significant budget shortfall and how that would factor into the federal government\u2019s ability to provide necessary benefits to veterans, including those exposed to toxins while on the line of duty. Collins will also inherit a troubled electronic health record system<\/a> initiated by the first Trump administration, which has been on pause since it was found to be tied to several veterans\u2019 deaths and billions over budget.<\/p>\n

Collins acknowledged the challenges ahead and pledged to expand choice for veterans to access care outside the VA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not come into this with rose-colored glasses. This is a large undertaking that I feel called to be at,\u201d Collins said. \u201cWhen a veteran has to call a congressman or senator\u2019s office to get the care they have already earned, it\u2019s a mark of failure.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abortion politics took center stage at the Tuesday morning confirmation hearing for President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Secretary nominee Doug Collins, a former Republican congressman from Georgia, was asked more than once by Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee Democrats whether he would roll back a Biden administration rule allowing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}