Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins replies Jan. 21, 2025, to questions asked by senators during his confirmation hearing. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers will get their first opportunity to question Doug Collins, secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, since his Senate confirmation hearing in January, as the federal government’s second-largest agency undergoes a downsizing and reorganization.

Collins is scheduled to testify at a May 7 hearing of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee about the agency’s spending plan for fiscal 2026. He also will share his goals for the agency for the next four years, said Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., the committee chairman.

The VA, which employs more than 470,000 workers, has had a hiring freeze in place since laying off several hundred workers in February as part of a mass firing of probationary workers by the administration of President Donald Trump. The VA — the second-largest agency in the federal government — has terminated 1,400 probationary workers since January.

Moran is among GOP lawmakers who have faced pressure back in their home districts over the federal workforce reductions and cuts to program funds.

In March, protesters rallied at town hall meetings in Kansas where Moran was the keynote speaker. The protesters objected to the loss of government jobs and uncertainty about the future of federal programs, according to reports by radio station KCUR and other local news outlets.

Moran said Collins’ appearance before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee will allow lawmakers to query him about the recent firings and his priorities for the agency after three months in office.

Collins also is expected to discuss the VA’s plans to lay off up to 83,000 employees by August, according to an internal memo from the VA chief of staff. The reduction in force will drop staffing to 2019 levels, according to the VA.

Lawmakers only learned about plans for another round of layoffs, after a high-level VA memo was leaked to news reporters. The memo — from VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek to other VA leaders — provided a blueprint for conducting job terminations with the stated goal to eliminate waste and make the VA operate more efficiently.

Federal agencies are under order by the Trump administration to reduce their workforce as part of a restructuring of the federal government.

“Members of the committee will have the opportunity to question Secretary Collins on workforce changes and his plans to make the VA work better for veterans,” Moran said at a Senate hearing in March, when he first informed lawmakers that Collins would testify.

Moran said Congress needs to have an oversight role in “strategically shaping VA workforce decisions to achieve the right outcomes for veterans and their families.”