Cheryl Mason, an adviser to VA Secretary Doug Collins and 28-year employee of the Department of Veterans Affairs, was confirmed Thursday to become the department's top watchdog.
The Senate approved Mason's nomination in a 53-45 vote Thursday that fell along party lines. During Mason's confirmation hearing in June, Democrats had raised concerns over her role since January as a senior adviser to the secretary, but ultimately, they did not have the votes to block Mason's appointment as the VA's inspector general.
Addressing Democrats' concerns at her confirmation hearing, Mason, who led the Veterans Board of Appeals from 2017 to 2022, pledged to be an unbiased investigator of the department, adding that her priority would be serving veterans.
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"As chairman and veterans law judge, I acted independently issuing decisions to be followed by VA guarding the impartiality and independence of the board, and I will do the same if confirmed as [inspector general]," Mason said.
The board is responsible for reviewing disability benefits claims when veterans challenge the department's initial decisions.
Mason will lead a department that has been without a permanent inspector general since January, when President Donald Trump fired more than a dozen inspectors general across the federal government, including Michael Missal, the VA's inspector general who had served since 2016.
Democrats said Mason's appointment would politicize an office that requires independence and nonpartisanship as it investigates wrongdoing at the VA.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., ranking member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said during the hearing that no inspector general had ever been appointed who previously has been a political appointee.
"What we need now, more than any time in our history, is a person in that position who is nonpolitical, completely nonpartisan and independent," Blumenthal said.
Of concern to lawmakers was a report in Government Executive magazine that said, as senior adviser, Mason told Veterans Benefits Administration employees that they could not have direct contact with the Office of General Counsel without her permission.
When pressed, Mason said she would recuse herself from "certain situations," just as she did when she was a veterans law judge.
Mason said it has been her lifelong mission to serve veterans and military families. She has been a staunch advocate for military spouse employment, is a motivational speaker and has written a book on leadership.
Mason is the wife of a retired Air Force officer and the daughter and sister of veterans, both of whom died by suicide.
"My commitment to those who serve this country is deep and personal," she said during her hearing.
Republicans overwhelmingly supported her nomination.
Committee Chairman Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., had been pressing the department to nominate a replacement to Missal and during hearings has repeatedly thanked the previous inspector general for his oversight.
"The IG's work is essential to identifying areas where the VA is falling short, and this committee's job would be much harder without the help of an inspector general. This is before us today as a lawyer, a military spouse, a leader who has been appointed to high-level positions within the VA by both President Biden and President Trump," Moran said during Mason's hearing.
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