President Trump’s Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, who served as a Congressman for eight years, was questioned by members of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Appropriations, a subcommittee within the House Committee on Appropriations.
As seen below, Ranking Member Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) asked Collins why in April he sent a notification to Congress –rather than a request for approval — when he moved agency funds from one program to another.
Schultz told Collins: “You are required to seek our approval, you were a member of Congress, you are aware of that, and you have not done that.”
He replied, “We sent you everything we’re supposed to send you,” to which Schultz cited the sections of the appropriations act which gives guidelines on how and when the Secretary needs to involve the Committee when he “decides to move funding around.” She added, “It’s the law…this shouldn’t be a difficult thing to get you to agree to.”
DWS: Will you follow the law that is written out clearly in the appropriations act?
Collins: We’re at an impasse here
DWS: They are required under appropriations law to request to move those funds.
Republican Chair: I agree with the lady. It’s been done that way for 20… pic.twitter.com/cPQpKy2QLH
— Acyn (@Acyn) May 15, 2025
When Collins would not confirm that he would follow the appropriations act, Schultz addressed the Committee and said: “I just want to make clear that the Committee understands that the way this Secretary and this administration has interacted with Congress on moving hundreds of millions of dollars from one account to the next is unprecedented.”
She repeated: “They are required under the appropriations law to request through a reprogramming to move those funds. I have not in all the time I’ve been on this Committee…experienced the Secretary who has not submitted reprogramming requests, and just seem to think that all they have to do is ‘let us know.’ That is ridiculous and we will continue to pursue this vigorously, Mr. Secretary.”
Republican Chair Rep. John Carter (R-TX) responded to Schultz’s comments: “I agree with the lady. We want it done the way she just said. It’s been done that way, I’ve been on this committee for 20 years, it’s been done that way for 20 years, we’re not going to change it now.”