Trump picks former Georgia congressman Doug Collins to run Veterans Affairs
Published in News & Features
President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, a longtime political ally who represented a northwest Georgia seat in Congress, to join his Cabinet as secretary of the sprawling Veterans Affairs department.
Collins, a Gainesville lawyer, was one of Trump’s biggest defenders in the U.S. House during Democratic-led impeachment hearings, and tried to parlay that platform into an ultimately unsuccessful bid for Senate in 2020.
Collins is a military veteran who serves as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
“We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need,” Trump said in a statement.
In 2020, Trump’s campaign tapped him to serve as its go-to Georgia attorney after Joe Biden captured the state, and Collins has remained a staunch Trump advocate even as he decided against running as a MAGA candidate in the 2022 midterms.
The decision means Collins is unlikely to run for U.S. Senate or governor in 2026, when both jobs will be on the ballot.
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