Sen. Ruben Gallego blocks VA nominees to protest Trump’s plans to cut the agency's workforce

WASHINGTON — Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego announced Tuesday he will block the confirmation of top leaders at the Department of Veterans Affairs, raising the stakes in Democrats’ bid to get the Trump administration to back off plans to cut jobs from the sprawling agency that serves millions of military veterans.

Gallego, a Democrat and Marine Corps veteran, made the announcement just hours before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs was scheduled to hear testimony from three nominees for the VA who are military veterans themselves. It marked a significant escalation in the Democrats’ effort to counter President Donald Trump’s plans to slash federal agencies and a sharply partisan move on a committee that has often been marked by cooperation between Republicans and Democrats.

“Talking to veterans, people that I served with as well as seeing some of what’s happening in Arizona, I decided that whatever tool I have to fix the situation, I’m going to use it. And this is one of the few tools I have at this point,” Gallego told The Associated Press.

The holds — a maneuver used on occasion in the Senate — means that it is impossible for the chamber to move quickly to confirm the nominees and would potentially have to tie up hours or days of floor time to advance each nominee.

California Sen. Adam Schiff, another freshman Democrat, also announced Tuesday he would block Trump’s nominee for U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., Ed Martin. Schiff said on social media that since being named to the role on an interim basis, Martin had been “threatening opponents, firing public servants, and using his office to chill free speech.”

At the VA, there are 13 Senate-confirmed positions, according to the Partnership for Public Service. Two of those — VA Secretary Doug Collins and deputy secretary Paul Lawrence — have already been confirmed. Trump has made nominations for five other positions, while six have not yet received a nominee.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, an Alabama Republican, in 2023 put a hold on the promotions of hundreds of top military officers to protest Pentagon policy on abortions, but under pressure from his own party, eventually dropped most of his blockade.

Gallego acknowledged that his decision carried some risk. He said that he had hoped for collaboration with Collins, the Cabinet secretary, and even voted for his confirmation. But since then, he said he has struggled to get answers from the VA’s leadership.

The VA is in the midst of plans to cut its workforce by over 80,000 people. That would take it to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000 — before it had to provide benefits to veterans impacted by burn pits and exposure to other toxins under the 2022 PACT Act.

“Imagine how much better off veterans would be if lawmakers like Sen. Gallego cared as much about fixing VA as they do about protecting the department’s broken bureaucracy,” VA spokesperson Peter Kasperowicz said in a statement.

Kasperowicz noted that VA’s health care has been placed on the Government Accountability Office’s high-risk list because it faces “system-wide challenges in overseeing patient safety and access to care, hiring critical staff, and meeting future infrastructure needs.” He added that Collins’ goal is to make the VA work better for veterans and their families.

While Collins has pledged that veterans’ benefits won’t be affected, Democrats are pushing back on the plans and warning that it comes at the expense of care for those who served in the military. Gallego pointed to one VA hospital in Arizona that he said had received a directive to cut 15% of its staff.

“As someone who actually has used that VA, you know I had services there done in the past. There’s no way they’re going to be able to cut 15% of the workforce, and it’s not going to impact veterans’ benefits,” he said.