Nominees for three top Department of Veterans Affairs jobs faced scrutiny Tuesday over the VA's plan to cut its workforce by 83,000 -- an effort some lawmakers say will negatively affect services to veterans.
During a confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., Senate Veterans Affairs Committee members praised the military service and civilian accomplishments of retired Army Capt. Sam Brown, a combat-wounded veteran selected to lead the VA's burial benefits department; Marine Corps Reserve Lt. Col. James Baehr, nominee for general counsel; and Richard Topping, a former Army infantry officer and judge advocate general, to serve as chief financial officer.
But they raised concerns over ongoing turmoil at the department since the start of the second Trump administration, including the dismissal of 2,400 probationary employees in February and plans to reduce the workforce by about 17%.
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The lawmakers also cited the cancellation of hundreds of VA contracts at the recommendation of VA reviewers and a liaison from billionaire Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency, as well as the mishandling of the VA budget that resulted in Congress providing an additional $3 billion last year that wasn't needed.
Also overshadowing what should have been a relatively smooth confirmation process for the three was an announcement Tuesday from Arizona Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego, who pledged to block any Senate vote on VA nominees until he received answers from the VA on its drawdown plans.
Citing what could be a 15% reduction in staff at the Phoenix VA Health Care System, which provides medical care to roughly 130,000 veterans, Gallego said he has not received responses from VA Secretary Doug Collins about the effects staff cuts will have on former service members.
"I need to do everything I can to hold as many nominees as possible until ... I can prove to the veterans that I served with and the veterans I represent now, in Arizona, all over the country, that this is not going to hurt them," Gallego said during the hearing.
Since none of the three men currently works at the VA, they could not directly answer questions about the reorganization or impact that cancelled contracts may have on veterans' care or benefits.
But they all have had extensive experience with the VA and professional backgrounds that bolster their qualifications for serving in the department.
Brown, the nominee for under secretary for memorial affairs, told the committee that his wife, an Army veteran, was not in the hearing room because she was at a VA medical appointment. Brown himself was medically retired after receiving grievous injuries from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan in 2008 and founded a health care company that manages the dispensation of medications to veterans during emergencies such as national disasters before he entered politics.
He lost a tight Senate race in 2024 to incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev.
If confirmed, Brown will lead a department with a $261 million budget that oversees national cemeteries and a grant program that provides funding to state, tribal and local cemeteries for veterans' burials and services.
In response to questions over the planned cuts, Brown said he did not know how field operations worked within the National Cemetery Administration but pledged that "the mission will never suffer if confirmed under my leadership."
"When I was in the Army, we had a motto that 'No mission too difficult, no sacrifice too great. Duty First.' In this case, the veteran is the mission and everything the secretary has spoken about publicly ... to the extent of the mission of the [National Cemetery Administration], which is to honor the lives of our veterans, their family members, to ensure that they are properly memorialized," Brown said.
Baehr, who currently serves as a military trial judge in the Marine Corps Reserve, worked as special assistant to President Donald Trump and was an assistant U.S. attorney in Louisiana, fielded questions about VA policies and law, including a recent prohibition on VA benefits adjudicators speaking directly with VA attorneys without getting permission first from a senior adviser to Collins.
"Wouldn't you agree that VA employees should be free to talk to the Office of General Counsel without first seeking permission from the political leadership?" asked Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
"I'm not there now, and I don't know all the details of the policy, but my goal would be to efficiently provide responses across the enterprise," Baehr replied.
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., quizzed Baehr on whether attorneys' fees should be capped on those representing veterans suing the federal government over decades-long water contamination at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Tillis has fought to cap fees that sometimes have topped 75% of a veteran's award.
When Baehr replied that he believed veterans should have aggressive representation, Tillis told him that was the "wrong answer."
"You're getting ready to lose my vote here. Here's what I need a commitment from you. Attorney General [Pam] Bondi has already said she's going to do this; the Secretary of the Navy already is in. All we want is implementation of what Merrick Garland said he was going to do ... make sure that limits are put on these awards," Tillis said.
Richard Topping, nominee to serve as the VA's CFO, would be responsible for the department's $370 billion budget. Topping, a former Army judge advocate and trial attorney with the Department of Health and Human Services, has served as chief executive officer and president of several health care companies.
When asked about the priorities of the Mission Act, which broadened eligibility for veterans to get medical care from civilian providers outside the VA system, and the PACT Act, which expanded medical care and benefits for veterans sickened by environmental exposures overseas, Topping said the VA's efforts to streamline operations would be done in a veteran-centric way.
"I think, like any organization with limited resources, time capabilities, there's always a prioritization. None is more or less important. But I think what the secretary said he's doing is he is focused on maximizing efficiency, redeploying those resources so they're front-facing and mission-essential for veterans, and ensuring that the veteran remains at the center of everything that we do," Topping said.
Addressing Topping, Committee Chairman Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas cited a VA inspector general report released last week that said the department did not accurately budget for anticipated increases in fiscal 2024 and requested emergency funding later in the process even though it was never used.
"It's a poor way of doing business," Moran said.
Topping concurred.
"I think the priorities I would bring as CFO is financial reporting, forecasting capabilities and the right tools, the right structure, that drives accountability. If confirmed as CFO, we're going to get the numbers right," Topping said.
A number of senators have said they regretted voting for Collins, and in the hearing, Blumenthal, Gallego and Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, reiterated again that the secretary has not provided them answers to questions on the firings of probationary employees; the planned staff cuts -- which likely will include 30,000 veteran employees; and the canceled contracts, a list of which has not been published.
"We ought to stop talking about nominees at this department until the department starts telling us what they're going to do and justifying it in terms of service to the veterans," King said.
Blumenthal said he stood with Gallego in placing a hold on the nominations.
Moran said he expects to have a committee vote on the three nominees next week in executive session, but "assuming that they are passed or approved, we understand there's a hold."
"Each of these roles are critically important to fulfilling the VA's mission of improving the care, benefits and services of millions of veterans, caregivers, survivors and beneficiaries across the country," Moran said.
