Former Representative Doug Collins does not have a traditional résumé for a V.A. secretary, but he fits the mold of a Trump loyalist.
Former Representative Doug Collins, an Air Force Reserve chaplain who defended President Trump during his first impeachment investigation, is set to testify in a confirmation hearing on Tuesday morning after being chosen by Mr. Trump to lead the Veterans Affairs Department.
Mr. Collins, a Navy veteran and fast-talking former pastor, is set to appear before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee as the first potential cabinet official to face confirmation hearings after Mr. Trump took office. His hearing was delayed by a week because of an incomplete background check.
Like many of Mr. Trump’s other cabinet selections, including Pete Hegseth, his nominee to oversee the Defense Department, Mr. Collins reflects the new president’s priorities in filling out agency leadership for his second term, with personal loyalty central to each selection.
Mr. Collins is not expected to face a difficult confirmation fight, in part because of the bipartisan and apolitical nature of much of the department’s work managing a sprawling health system and veterans’ benefits.
Dr. David Shulkin, the former V.A. secretary who was the lone Obama administration holdover in Mr. Trump’s first-term cabinet before being pushed out of the job, said in an interview that Mr. Collins would most likely need to focus on the same priorities as his predecessor, Denis McDonough.
“Because the issues the V.A. deals with are systemic and complex, and unfortunately the same ones that were there when the last secretary was in,” Dr. Shulkin said.