[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – During a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing yesterday on the nomination of Doug Collins to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Ranking Member Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) pressed Collins to push back against any cost-cutting efforts pursued by the Trump Administration that would negatively impact the delivery of veterans’ health care and benefits. This includes a Presidential Action President Donald Trump issued on Monday to implement a federal hiring freeze, which could impact the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

“I was disappointed to see in the executive orders that a hiring freeze will be imposed, apparently, on the VA, and I am hopeful that you, Congressman Collins—I’m going to be very blunt—will be the kind of advocate that the VA and our veterans will need in this Administration,” said Blumenthal in his opening remarks. “There will be potentially heavy pressures on you to cut and slash, to reduce access and eligibility because the VA, frankly, is a target-rich environment for cost-cutters, and we know that there is a Department of Government Efficiency looking for those kinds of cost-cutting opportunities…But I cannot emphasize how important it will be to me, and I hope all of us on this Committee, that you fight those efforts with every fiber in your being.”

Blumenthal pushed Collins to clarify if the hiring freeze would extend to positions that deliver veterans’ health care and work at VA cemeteries, where there are existing vacancies nationwide, including for mental health providers. He emphasized the difficulties of recruiting and retaining VA doctors and nurses, and stressed his concerns with including these and other positions in a hiring freeze: “The issue of a workforce hiring freeze memorandum claims that it will not adversely impact the provision of Social Security, Medicare, or veterans’ benefits. I would like to know from you what does that mean in practical terms about the employees who deliver veterans’ health care or work in cemeteries? Does this language exempt all of the VA’s positions from the hiring freeze?”

When Collins did not answer the question, Blumenthal continued: “Let me come right to the point. I am asking you to fight to fill the openings - not a hiring freeze - in the ranks of the doctors, the nurses, the attendants, everybody who works in care facilities or in veterans’ cemeteries rather than leaving those positions open because those folks are needed to care for veterans. Will you seek an exemption to the hiring freeze for those positions that concern veterans’ care, including the Veterans Crisis Line?”

Blumenthal concluded, “This is going to be a first test of your leadership. Whether you fight for an exemption from a hiring freeze for the non-veterans benefits employees who are needed to care for veterans at medical facilities and other places including the Veterans Crisis Line—rather than have them covered by that hiring freeze.”

As Ranking Member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Blumenthal is a staunch defender of protecting and expanding the benefits and health care veterans earned and deserve. Last week at the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing, Blumenthal pressed Office of Management and Budget Director nominee Russell Vought to renounce harmful proposals he made as part of his role as President of the Center for Renewing America to means-test VA disability compensation benefits and claw back benefits from disabled veterans. During his questioning at yesterday’s hearing, Blumenthal also asked Collins to commit to opposing these and other dangerous policies and any effort by the Trump Administration to roll-back veterans’ benefits.

The full text of Blumenthal’s exchange with Collins on Trump’s federal hiring freeze is copied below. Video of Blumenthal’s questioning is available for download here.

U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT): Thanks, Mr. Chairman. As we were talking a little bit earlier, last night the White House issued various executive orders. Some of them dealt with the federal hiring freeze, a freeze on regulations and other issues. We are still reviewing them in my office. The issue of a workforce hiring freeze memorandum claims that it will not, “adversely impact the provision of social security, Medicare, or Veterans benefits." I would like to know from you what does that mean in practical terms about the employees who deliver veterans’ health care or work in cemeteries? Does this language exempt all of the VA’s positions from the hiring freeze?

Doug Collins: I think, Senator, we are still, like you, examining that. But we support the President's initiative here in the freeze but also I’ll take, as far as what it says, I will take it at the words that are on the paper that say it’s not going to affect it. We have people doing those benefits packages right now. We have people working on that. And the application would be that adding more people would fix whatever the problem is. I am convinced right now that the workers and the benefits we need to make better efficiencies with what we currently have. So I support that.

Blumenthal: That is not reassuring to me because I am asking not about the VA employees who work on benefits. I am asking about the folks who are in the hospitals, in the care facilities, at the cemeteries. They are not dispersing benefits. They are providing care. And as you well know, there are extraordinary problems in recruiting and retaining the doctors, the nurses, and filling their ranks where there are openings right now. So, the explicit language of that memorandum seems to include them in the hiring freeze.

Collins: Going by the way you worded it, I will say this, the hiring freeze and the wording that you used, and I do not have this before me, so I will not comment completely on it. I do not have it in front of me. I am going off of memory, and we are still examining that as well. I can assure you President Trump in this executive order is to get an assessment on where we are with our employees and not to take away from anything that is currently there in the future. And the way that your question is worded is implying that they would not be there to do the veterans’ health care, the cemetery work. That is going to continue. This new hire freeze is not there, we may not bring in a new person tomorrow unless we need it, but this is where we’re at. And I think what he’s done is to get an assessment on where we are.

Blumenthal: Well, you and I are trading a lot of words. Let me come right to the point. I am asking you to fight to fill the openings, not a hiring freeze, in the ranks of the doctors, the nurses, the attendants, everybody who works in care facilities or in veterans cemeteries rather than leaving those positions open because those folks are needed to care for veterans. Will you seek an exemption to the hiring freeze for those positions that concern veterans care, including the Veterans Crisis Line?

Collins: I will take everything that you have said into consideration and understand that the freeze and support the executive order, while at the same time if confirmed, be willing to make sure there is nothing missing in the process. As you said, we’re sharing words. I think we are saying the same thing.

Blumenthal: Well, no, we are not. With all due respect.

Collins: I respect that.

Blumenthal: This is going to be a first test of your leadership. Whether you fight for an exemption from a hiring freeze for the non-veterans benefits employees who are needed to care for veterans at medical facilities and other places including the veterans crisis line rather than have them covered by that hiring freeze.

Collins: Senator, I view this not as a test of what I will not do. I believe it is a test of two different assumptions. And assuming that just because there is an opening that there is an actual need, at that point, this makes the veteran miss their benefits of healthcare. I think we are coming at it from two separate perspectives. There may be openings, but there were openings yesterday. There were openings last week. This is simply looking ahead to say where we are at this point. I think we are coming at this from two separate perspectives, and I respect yours greatly. But I think what we are going to see is no one on the veteran healthcare side is going to miss their healthcare provider because of this new hiring freeze. The President is doing a prudent step as he comes into office to make sure that we have a good handle on what we've got and going forward.

I will always fight—and Senator, I have told you this in your office, and I’ll tell you again here— for what we need at our facilities. But I am also not going to fight for issues in which I believe that I have not had a chance to study and make sure that this issue is taken care of. I do not believe that this will have the impact that you are having because I think we are coming at it from two different perspectives.

Blumenthal: Well, I will just say, I don't want to get into an argument here. But there is, there are possible openings where, let’s say, the head of the West Haven VA facility says, “Oh, we don't need to fill that position.” But there are also openings where the director of the facility is saying, “We need more nurses. We need more doctors. We need more mental health care.” You and I have talked about this. You cannot provide veterans’ health care without the people, the skilled professionals, to do it. I hear you saying if there is an opening, it means that we don't need somebody for that opening.

Collins: I think, Senator, just a general reminder, last week, Secretary McDonough could have filled those positions. He chose not to, or could not find anybody.

Blumenthal: Well, he may have wanted to, and you may have talked to him about it, but it is not easy to fill those positions. They’ve worked hard to fill—

Collins: And Senator, that is why we are taking the perspective of where we are at. Again, I appreciate it, we will work on this together. But also, I respect what the President has done. I think it is a prudent step moving forward and that the health care is not going to be compromised in that process. I support that.