{"id":31767,"date":"2025-06-04T21:37:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T21:37:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/06\/04\/trumps-pick-for-va-watchdog-role-promises-independence-impartiality\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T16:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T16:56:19","slug":"trumps-pick-for-va-watchdog-role-promises-independence-impartiality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/federaltimes\/congress\/2025\/06\/04\/trumps-pick-for-va-watchdog-role-promises-independence-impartiality\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s pick for VA watchdog role promises independence, impartiality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President Donald Trump\u2019s pick to serve as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2025\/05\/07\/trump-picks-senior-va-advisor-to-serve-as-top-department-watchdog\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2025\/05\/07\/trump-picks-senior-va-advisor-to-serve-as-top-department-watchdog\/\">the top watchdog for Veterans Affairs<\/a> on Wednesday defended her ability to be an unbiased investigator of the administration, despite her past political role with the department. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI consider myself to be an impartial, independent aide to the department,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/wilmington-health-care\/news-releases\/va-announces-trump-administration-appointees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.va.gov\/wilmington-health-care\/news-releases\/va-announces-trump-administration-appointees\/\">Cheryl Mason<\/a>, currently a senior adviser to VA Secretary Doug Collins, told members of the Senate Veterans\u2019 Affairs Committee during a confirmation hearing for the department\u2019s inspector general role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\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\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/05\/06\/collins-dems-spar-over-whether-va-needs-key-fixes-or-full-overhaul\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/05\/06\/collins-dems-spar-over-whether-va-needs-key-fixes-or-full-overhaul\/\">Democratic lawmakers<\/a> challenged that assertion, questioning whether Mason can be an effective check on problematic policies set by department leadership. They accused Trump officials of politicizing a critical oversight position that should be nonpolitical. <\/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\/veterans\/2025\/05\/07\/trump-picks-senior-va-advisor-to-serve-as-top-department-watchdog\/\" 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=\"185\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP18045806129354-1.jpg.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 picks senior VA advisor to serve as top department watchdog<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Cheryl Mason&#039;s shift from administration insider to department watchdog elicited concerns about her ability to be an independent voice on VA operations.<\/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\">\u201cWe have never confirmed someone for the [inspector general] position who was a political appointee already serving in any department,\u201d committee ranking member Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said. \u201cWhat we need now, more than any time in our history, is a person in that position who is nonpolitical, completely nonpartisan and independent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mason\u2019s nomination last month came amid ongoing legal challenges concerning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/01\/27\/va-dod-oversight-questioned-after-trump-inspector-general-firings\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/01\/27\/va-dod-oversight-questioned-after-trump-inspector-general-firings\/\">Trump\u2019s firing of multiple inspectors general in late January<\/a>. Blumenthal and other Democrats have said those moves should be reversed and former VA Inspector General Mike Missal should be reinstated to the post. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Mason is likely to be confirmed in the coming weeks by the Republican-controlled Senate. GOP lawmakers on the veterans panel did not express significant concerns about the ongoing legal fights or Mason\u2019s qualifications to take over the watchdog role. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She was part of the Board of Veterans Appeals from 2017 to 2022, becoming the first woman ever to serve as chair of the judicial panel. The board provides a second chance for veterans seeking disability benefits to challenge Department of Veterans Affairs decisions.<\/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 also served on Trump\u2019s presidential transition team before his second term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">She insisted that despite her ties to the administration, she remains a fair and balanced voice on veterans issues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was brought back because of my independence and background,\u201d Mason said. \u201cWhen I was asked to advise the secretary on various things \u2026 he was looking for impartiality, independence, someone who could challenge conventional wisdom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mason said she has had minimal communications with Collins and senior staff since her nomination for the inspector general role and downplayed her involvement in high-level policy moves since January. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In combative questioning from Democrats on the Senate committee, Mason said she would recuse herself from investigations into department decisions that she had been involved with and insisted that she would not defer to Collins on which issues to investigate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But she would not promise immediately to look into department plans to cut staff and contracts, arguing that investigating those moves before completion would not be appropriate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Blumenthal said he was unconvinced by her arguments and plans to work to block her confirmation. Other Democrats echoed that sentiment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt is very clear that this president likes people that he can count on, that he thinks will be loyal to him, that he thinks will do his bidding,\u201d Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, told the nominee. \u201cAnd here you come promising us that you\u2019re going to be impartial and independent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Committee Chairman Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, told Mason that she will need to \u201cavoid even the appearance of impropriety\u201d in the new role, but also indicated general support for her nomination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Panel members did not indicate when a final vote on Mason\u2019s confirmation could take place. Several Democratic lawmakers have holds on senior Trump administration nominees, but Republican leaders can still force vote on those individuals under chamber roles. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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","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":38,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[38,15,33,9],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3294],"class_list":["post-31767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-congress","category-management","category-newsletters","category-federal-oversight"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"GTQ5EUGSSVHHNCNJDDWSSMMPF4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2025\/06\/04\/trumps-pick-for-va-watchdog-role-promises-independence-impartiality\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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