Gainesville's Doug Collins transforms from firebrand congressman to VA chief

Doug Collins, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, testifies during his Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images/TNS)

02052025 Doug Collins — Doug Collins, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, testifies during his Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images/TNS)

Greg Bluestein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Updated: Feb 11, 2025, 9:02 PM

Published: Feb 11, 2025, 8:57 PM

As former U.S. Rep. Doug Collins tells it, his appointment to Donald Trump’s Cabinet wasn’t a thunderclap moment that “fell from the sky.” Instead, it was the culmination of months of discussions that crystallized after the president’s victory.

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Protestors walk around the square in downtown Gainesville Friday, March, 14, 2025, for a mock "funeral" for the announcement that the Social Security office in Gainesville was closing.

by Scott Rogers

Government

Government