White House officials this week announced that Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins will also serve as the interim head of the Office of Government Ethics and the Office of Special Counsel while the administration reorganizes both agencies.
The trio of high-level responsibilities for the just-confirmed Collins raised concerns among some lawmakers who said running the 480,000-employee department is a significant enough challenge without the additional tasks.
“Barely one week on the job, Doug Collins should have enough on his plate taking the reins of the largest health care system in the country,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ranking member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
“On top of it being a major conflict of interest for a Cabinet secretary to be tasked with oversight of his own position and agency, all three of these roles are too important for one individual to fill. [He] needs to step aside immediately and focus on serving veterans.”
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A VA spokesperson dismissed those concerns, saying the department “has already made significant progress” in improving the department. “Sec. Collins looks forward to ensuring OSC and OGE uphold their important responsibilities while the administration finds permanent leaders for both organizations.”
The Office of Government Ethics provides ethics oversight across the executive branch and is designed to serve as an independent arbiter for those departments. That includes working as a watchdog for VA leaders.
Similarly, the Office of Special Counsel is an independent investigative and prosecutorial agency of the executive branch. It mainly focuses on federal employee protections, and fields whistleblower complaints from a host of federal agencies, including several within the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Earlier this year, the office criticized Veterans Affairs leaders for failing to refund millions of dollars in canceled medical co-pay charges to veterans, despite knowing about the problem for years.
Both offices had vacancies in their leadership roles after President Donald Trump dismissed their previous leaders. Those job actions are being challenged in court.
Collins has served as a legal adviser for Trump since his first term in the White House, including aiding in his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which Trump lost to former President Joe Biden.
The White House has not unveiled its timeline for naming permanent replacements for the two offices. Administration officials also have not yet announced names for Collins’ deputy secretary at VA or two of the three undersecretary posts that require Senate confirmation.
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
