Senate pushes Veteran Affairs nominee Doug Collins to floor vote, advances Chris Wright nomination

The Senate on Thursday night advanced President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Veteran Affairs, Doug Collins, to a full floor vote, and invoked cloture on Chris Wright’s nomination as Energy secretary. 

The upper chamber advanced Collins in a bipartisan 83-13 vote, and he is expected to be confirmed with strong bipartisan support. He advanced out of committee in an 18-1 vote last week, with just Hawaii Democratic Sen. Mazie Hirono voting against him, per Fox News.

If confirmed, Collins will have the monumental task of fixing a department that is already criticized for having slow response times,  inadequate mental health support systems, and budget shortfall issues. 

Collins, a former Georgia congressman, served in the lower chamber from 2013 to 2021. He unsuccessfully ran for the state's Senate seat in 2020, but placed third behind former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, and the eventual winner, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock.

The Senate also invoked cloture on Wright's nomination to lead the Department of Energy, setting up a final vote for the Cabinet hopeful for next week. The moves come after the Senate confirmed former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Interior secretary.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.