Sen. Richard Blumenthal believes his relationship with Pentagon and Veterans Affairs leaders has never been as adversarial as it is right now.
“I’ve been in the United States Senate for almost 15 years, and throughout most of my career … my requests for information were answered, and the departments have been responsive,” the Connecticut Democrat said during a recent interview with Military Times. “They know our responsibility is to do oversight and accountability, and information is what the public deserves.
“Now, it’s stonewalling and stalling and often just refusing to answer at all requests for basic information.”
Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, insists that he wants open and productive communication with the Republican administrations at VA and in the Defense Department.
But in the last five months, he has become a key foil for the executive branch on a host of reform and reduction plans, especially in VA.
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VA Secretary Doug Collins has frequently pointed to Blumenthal — sometimes by name, sometimes by insinuation — as a critic who is spreading misinformation about looming changes at his department. Blumenthal, in turn, has publicly said he regrets his vote to confirm Collins because of the poor leadership he has shown in the Cabinet role since February.
The biggest points of friction have been Collins’ public plans to cut around 80,000 VA staffers from the department workforce and his cancellation of hundreds of contracts in cost-saving moves. Blumenthal said Congress is still awaiting critical details on both actions.
“They’ve refused to do it,” he said. “They’ve continued to slow-walk us, stonewall us.
“These are the kinds of basic information that both sides of the aisle deserve to receive. And nobody on the Republican side is saying to me, ‘We shouldn’t have that information.’ Nobody on the Republican side is saying, ‘We’re okay with this lack of responsiveness.’”
But GOP lawmakers in the House and Senate have not moved to aggressively rebuke Collins for a lack of communication or information. Blumenthal said his party will continue to be active in offering legislation and blocking nominees until changes are made. Along with other Democratic members, Blumenthal already has a blanket hold on all VA and defense confirmations.
“They should provide us basic information before we move forward with confirmations,” Blumenthal said.
“[Republicans] could still put those nominees on the floor anytime they want, and there would be a vote. So nothing is really blocking the administration from moving forward with them. But my feeling is that we should hold them accountable for this information.”
Administration officials have accused Blumenthal and his fellow Senate Democrats of supporting the status quo for both departments, rather than allowing meaningful reforms to move ahead. Blumenthal bristled at those claims.
“There’s no question that there’s waste in the VA. There’s waste in the Pentagon. We need to reduce it wherever we can,” he said. “But it takes careful, thoughtful analysis of specific areas of activity.
“If you’re going to remodel your house … you don’t burn down the house and then rebuild the whole house. You can approach each room individually and more cost effectively. This is a matter of how to approach change, not whether to do it.”
Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for Military Times. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award.
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