Doug Collins

Doug Collins fits The Reformer archetype, a leader who treats an inherited institution as a system to be overhauled rather than administered. A former Georgia congressman, Air Force Reserve chaplain, and pastor, Collins took over the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2025 with a mandate to restructure one of the federal government's largest bureaucracies. His tenure has been defined by workforce reductions, pressure to accelerate the troubled electronic health records rollout, and a stated focus on redirecting resources toward direct veteran care. His style is combative and message driven, honed during his high profile role defending Trump on the House Judiciary Committee, and he pairs that pugnacity with the pastoral credibility of his chaplaincy background. The open question for Collins is whether disruption at this scale improves outcomes for veterans or destabilizes the services they depend on.