President-elect Donald Trump has picked former Rep. Doug Collins, a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command, to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. “We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Service members, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need,” the president-elect said in a statement Thursday. If he’s confirmed by the Senate, Collins would oversee the nation’s largest integrated health care network, including 1,255 facilities that serve 9 million enrolled veterans annually. The VA also maintains more than 150 national cemeteries. “We'll fight tirelessly to streamline and cut regulations in the VA, root out corruption, and ensure every veteran receives the benefits they've earned,” Collins said Thursday in a social media post. Collins, who has a master’s degree in divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, was a U.S. Navy chaplain in the late 1980s. He worked as a pastor and owned a small business with his wife. After the 9/11 attacks, he enlisted with the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a chaplain and deployed to Iraq for five months in 2008. He is currently a colonel in the Air Force Reserve. He rose from the state legislature to win election to the House in 2012, representing one of Georgia’s most Republican congressional districts. Collins ran for Senate in 2020, but lost in an all-party election to Democrat Raphael Warnock and GOP incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler, who advanced to a runoff that Warnock eventually won. Collins left the House in 2021. As the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Collins vigorously defended Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into whether Russia influenced the 2016 election. #dougcollins #2024election #electionresults #trump #donaldtrump #airforcereservecommand #veteranaffairs #veteran #republican #administration #pbsnews #newshour - @pbsnews