President Donald Trump's hand-picked head of the Veterans Administration has infuriated White House insiders and House leadership by creating a mess out of a GOP-sponsored benefits bill, according to a new report.
Former Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) is alienating his former colleagues and the White House in his new role taking care of the nation's many military veterans, Politico reported Wednesday.
A major Republican veterans benefits bill—one designed to expand care for tens of thousands of veterans—was abruptly pulled from the House floor after GOP lawmakers erupted in private panic, the report notes.
"They were concerned they would end up being blamed for cutting benefits because of the way the bill proposed paying for the increase — and said that Collins’ VA hadn’t done enough to alleviate their worries," the report states.
"A self-inflicted loss at the hands of the VA secretary," one White House official complained.
The defeat was stinging because Republicans desperately needed a legislative victory before the recess, and Collin's lack of communication has been so bad that a "furious" Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) personally called the White House demanding "clarification from the VA about how it would change its rules to pay for the benefits expansion."
"It’s just the latest move by Collins that has stoked backlash on Capitol Hill and inside the White House, after he irritated lawmakers by failing to give them advance warning about several high-profile changes, including staffing cuts and management reforms at the department," Politico is reporting.
The report adds GOP leaders privately told Collins they had concerns about the benefits bill. Collins reportedly agreed with them—then apparently did nothing to address those concerns or keep lines of communication open.
