The Senate on Tuesday confirmed former Rep. Doug Collins to lead the Veterans Affairs Department. 

Mr. Collins, a Georgia Republican and Air Force Reserve colonel and chaplain who served in Iraq, earned broad bipartisan support in the 77-23 vote. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, South Dakota Republican, said Mr. Collins is a good fit to lead the VA because he has a “servant’s heart.”

“Doug Collins has comforted wounded soldiers. He’s taken calls from service members contemplating suicide,” Mr. Thune said. “He understands what it means to serve the veteran.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the top Democrat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said he was impressed by many of Mr. Collins answers during his confirmation hearings and commitments to building on recent bipartisan progress expanding veterans’ benefits and resources. 

“I’m hopeful he’s going to be the kind of advocate we’re really going to need in this era, when the challenges will be greater than ever before fiscally, and the pressure to scale back, to cut costs, to pursue harmful policies that may negatively affect our veterans will also be greater,” Mr. Blumenthal said.

• Lindsey McPherson can be reached at lmcpherson@washingtontimes.com.