Lawmakers leave the VA secretary out of veterans bill discussions: ‘They don’t trust him anymore’ | CNN Politics

A month after House Republicans failed to pass a veterans health bill, lawmakers are meeting behind closed doors to try to get the legislation back on track. But there’s one key person they haven’t invited to the table: Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins. Collins and his team at the VA have been excluded from recent meetings on Capitol Hill because some senior congressional Republicans and Trump officials blamed him when the planned House vote was abruptly abandoned in July, according to multiple sources who were involved in crafting the legislation. “His relationship with the Hill directly is garbage at this point,” said one person familiar with the dynamics surrounding Collins. “They don’t trust him anymore,” another source familiar with the situation said. The episode underscores how Collins’ standing in the administration has steadily deteriorated over the past several months. A longtime ally of President Donald Trump who previously served in the House before joining Trump’s Cabinet, Collins has confounded those around him with his lackluster engagement on issues like the veterans health bill, spurring widespread speculation over how much longer he’ll