{"id":80375,"date":"2025-07-31T19:36:29","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T19:36:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/07\/31\/senate-confirms-senior-va-advisor-to-become-next-department-watchdog\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:36:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:36:03","slug":"senate-confirms-senior-va-advisor-to-become-next-department-watchdog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2025\/07\/31\/senate-confirms-senior-va-advisor-to-become-next-department-watchdog\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate confirms senior VA advisor to become next department watchdog"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republican senators on Thursday confirmed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2025\/05\/07\/trump-picks-senior-va-advisor-to-serve-as-top-department-watchdog\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2025\/05\/07\/trump-picks-senior-va-advisor-to-serve-as-top-department-watchdog\/\">senior Veterans Affairs advisor Cheryl Mason<\/a> as the next top watchdog for Veterans Affairs programs, despite objections from Democratic lawmakers who questioned her ability to be an impartial investigator of the department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mason \u2014 who previously served as the first woman ever to chair the <a href=\"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/board-of-veterans-appeals\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/department.va.gov\/board-of-veterans-appeals\/\">Board of Veterans Appeals<\/a> \u2014 was approved for the VA Inspector General post by a 53-45 margin, with all of the opposition coming from Democrats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She replaces former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/03\/03\/senator-invites-fired-inspector-general-as-guest-for-trump-speech\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/03\/03\/senator-invites-fired-inspector-general-as-guest-for-trump-speech\/\">VA Inspector General Mike Missal<\/a>, who served in the role from April 2016 to January 2025, when he was dismissed by President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He and seven other fired federal watchdogs have sued the White House over their dismissals, claiming they were done without proper reason or notification. That legal case is still pending. <\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/06\/04\/trumps-pick-for-va-watchdog-role-promises-independence-impartiality\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"174\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Mason.jpg_eb3a77.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Trump\u2019s pick for VA watchdog role promises independence, impartiality<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Former Board of Veterans Appeals Chair Cheryl Mason said her work with the Trump administration should not disqualify her from a federal watchdog role. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For months, the firings have drawn criticism from Democratic lawmakers, who see them as an attempt to install administration-friendly officials in the key oversight offices. It has also generated extra scrutiny of Mason\u2019s nomination, since she worked for several months alongside the senior VA leaders she will now be charged with investigating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ahead of Mason\u2019s confirmation vote Thursday, Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee ranking member Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called her \u201cone of the most partisan and least independents we\u2019ve seen in nominees for an inspector general post in recent years.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He questioned whether she could provide proper oversight for the department, noting her collaboration with Secretary Doug Collins on staffing reforms and her time spent advising Trump\u2019s presidential transition team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/06\/04\/trumps-pick-for-va-watchdog-role-promises-independence-impartiality\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/06\/04\/trumps-pick-for-va-watchdog-role-promises-independence-impartiality\/\">her confirmation hearing <\/a>before the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee in June, Mason pledged to be unbiased in her work looking into waste, fraud and abuse at the department and even-handed in her reports to Congress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI consider myself to be an impartial, independent aide to the department,\u201d she said. \u201cI am loyal to the veterans. That\u2019s who I serve. That\u2019s who I\u2019m loyal to. I work for the president and the [VA] secretary, but also, if confirmed, I will work for this committee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Her confirmation had been stalled for several weeks by a series of Democratic holds, both over her qualifications and related to broader concerns about department cuts and public transparency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Republican leaders in the Senate have spent most of this week \u2014 the last scheduled week of work until September for the chamber \u2014 forcing through a series of administration nominations blocked by the minority party. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mason is the wife and daughter of military veterans and has been a public advocate for military spouse employment opportunities in the past. She worked on the Board of Veterans Appeals during both the first Trump administration and while President Joe Biden was in office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She is expected to be sworn into the new role in coming days. <\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The incoming VA Inspector General, Cheryl Mason, worked for several months alongside the senior VA leaders she will now be charged with investigating.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":110370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":21,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,24,16,26,65,21],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3328],"class_list":["post-80375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-education-transition","category-home","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"4ULJSRPN7FDDFM4RMVO5FFDOHA","arc_canonical_url":"\/veterans\/2025\/07\/31\/senate-confirms-senior-va-advisor-to-become-next-department-watchdog\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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