1 of 3 | Paul Lawrence testified Wednesday during a Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on his nomination to be deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI |
License PhotoFeb. 19 (UPI) — President Donald Trump‘s nominee to be the number two official in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs was grilled Wednesday by lawmakers on Capitol Hill as the White House cleans out federal agencies, including the VA.
“If confirmed, I will look into this to better understand what took place,” Paul Lawrence told Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., over inquires on the loss of VA researchers in the middle of working on life-saving treatments for veterans with conditions such as PTSD or opioid addiction.
It’s widely expected Lawrence will be easily approved in coming week by the GOP-controlled Senate as deputy U.S. secretary of Veterans Affairs after he met Wednesday with members of the Senate’s committee on veterans affairs.
“The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has a long history of bipartisan accomplishments on behalf of America’s Veterans,” Lawrence said in opening remarks. “Your commitment to taking care of the men and women who have worn the uniform is above reproach, and I want you to know I share that commitment,” he added.
He promised to get the VA’s electronic health record modernization effort back on track, ensure it provides vets with the healthcare choices and options promised to them by Congress as part of the MISSION Act.
Lawrence, who served as VA’s under secretary for benefits during President Donald Trump’s first term in office. This new role, however would in effect make him the VA’s chief operating officer.
In 2018 he was under fire by members of Congress for not committing to paying veterans full benefits after student veterans who were paid less than due under the Forever GI Bill.
Meanwhile, senators grilled Lawrence over the recent firing of more than 1,000 VA employees as the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s DOGE seeks to gut federal agencies.
“I don’t have enough information to comment on that,” Lawrence told Murray on the loss of critical VA medical researchers.
On Wednesday, he largely deflected most complaints ahead of his likely confirmation by saying he has not been involved in the personnel decisions.
“We are not going to privatize VA,” Lawrence claimed. “We would push back on any efforts to do that.”
“They’re just making stuff up, telling the public things that then later turn out not to be true,” stated Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. “They’re not thinking through how their actions will actually affect veterans. And I’m concerned that this reckless pattern of decision-making will continue.”
Lawrence also pledged to continue implementation of former President Joe Biden‘s 2022 PACT Act which vastly expanded veteran benefit eligibility for injuries relate to toxic exposures.
In addition, Lawrence promised that outside officials including those of Musk’s DOGE would not be able to access healthcare or U.S. veteran benefit information despite legitimate concerns to the contrary.
“Access to veterans’ benefits and health information is strictly guarded,” he claimed. “There is a restrictive process to do that.”
