WASHINGTON — Former Rep. Doug Collins, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Veterans Affairs Department, told lawmakers in a confirmation hearing Tuesday that he would defend a program that allows veterans to seek health services outside the VA medical system.

That program, introduced in Trump’s first term, allows more veterans who would need to travel longer distances to a VA facility to receive primary care and mental health services outside the agency’s system, a major shift.

Republicans have been critical of bureaucratic procedures that they say deprive veterans of access to more convenient care outside VA facilities. Collins was repeatedly pressed on his commitment to the program during his more than two-hour hearing before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

“The VA does not exist in and of itself. It exists for the veteran,” Collins said, adding that he believed its intent “was to make sure that the delivery of services to the veteran is first and foremost.”

Collins is not expected to face a difficult confirmation fight.

— The New York Times