{"id":30131,"date":"2018-07-09T03:00:51","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T03:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/07\/09\/this-week-in-congress-filling-the-vas-top-vacancy\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:37:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:37:25","slug":"this-week-in-congress-filling-the-vas-top-vacancy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2018\/07\/09\/this-week-in-congress-filling-the-vas-top-vacancy\/","title":{"rendered":"This week in Congress: Filling VA\u2019s top vacancy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">WASHINGTON \u2014 The Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee is poised to advance Ro<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/06\/27\/va-secretary-nominee-promises-more-medical-choices-for-vets-but-not-privatization\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">bert Wilkie as the next Veterans Affairs secretary<\/a> this week, and the full Senate will likely follow shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While his confirmation seems certain \u2014 key committee leaders have already offered their support for his nomination \u2014 it\u2019s unclear whether he\u2019ll see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/04\/02\/white-house-doctor-could-face-the-most-contentious-va-confirmation-process-ever\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">the same unanimous support<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2018\/03\/28\/shulkin-out-trump-fires-va-secretary-after-weeks-of-controversy\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">David Shulkin<\/a> received with his Senate confirmation vote in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, no VA secretary nominee sent to the Senate floor has ever received an opposition vote. All have either been unanimous or voice votes without any official votes against.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wilkie, who was easily approved last fall as the Pentagon\u2019s under secretary for personnel, is not seen as a controversial pick for the post. But President Donald Trump\u2019s handling of Shulkin\u2019s firing upset several lawmakers, and his past policy statements on sending more money for veterans medical care to private-sector doctors could be enough to create some resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<strong>Tuesday, July 10<\/strong><br>\n<br>\nSenate Foreign Relations \u2014 2:30 p.m. \u2014 Dirksen 419<br>\n<i>Pending legislation <\/i><br>\nThe committee will consider two pieces of legislation: a resolution supporting NATO and a measure codifying Israel security assistance. <br>\n<br>\nSenate Veterans\u2019 Affairs \u2014 Time TBD \u2014 Senate chambers<br>\n<i>VA Secretary confirmation<\/i><br>\nThe committee will hold a vote on the nomination of Robert Wilkie to be the next VA Secretary. <br>\n<br>\n<strong>Wednesday, July 11<\/strong><br>\n<br>\nHouse Armed Services \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2118 <br>\n<i>Foreign assistance<\/i><br>\nMark Mitchell, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for special operations, and other administration officials will testify before the committee on the Defense Department\u2019s role in foreign assistance programs. <br>\n<br>\nHouse Foreign Affairs \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2172<br>\n<i>Western Hemisphere<\/i><br>\nState Department officials will testify before the committee on advancing U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere. <br>\n<br>\nHouse Oversight \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2154 <br>\n<i>Muslim Brotherhood<\/i><br>\nOutside experts will testify before the committee on the global threat posed by Muslim Brotherhood groups. <br>\n<br>\nHouse Foreign Affairs \u2014 2 p.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2172 <br>\n<i>China<\/i><br>\nOutside experts will testify before the committee on China\u2019s predatory trade strategy. <br>\n<br>\n<strong>Thursday, July 12<\/strong><br>\n<br>\nHouse Veterans&#8217; Affairs \u2014 10 a.m. \u2014 Cannon 334 <br>\n<i>Committee business<\/i><br>\nMembers will discuss the formation of a new subcommittee to oversee VA work on electronic medical records, and also discuss pending legislation. <br>\n<br>\nHouse Financial Services \u2014 2 p.m. \u2014 Rayburn 2128 <br>\n<i>Weapons proliferation<\/i><br>\nThe committee will hear from outside experts on financial networks used for worldwide weapons proliferation. <br>\n<br>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defense and veterans hearings on Capitol Hill for the week of June 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":104450,"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":38,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[38,106,31,33,9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3294],"class_list":["post-30131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-daily-brief","category-home","category-newsletters","category-federal-oversight"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"FVEXXJJO2ZE2BO2SGHPM6OQ25A","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/07\/06\/this-week-in-congress-filling-the-vas-top-vacancy\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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