Maggie Hassan Asks Nominees Point-Blank: If Donald Trump Told You To Break The Law, Would You?

5 months ago

During a Senate Veterans Affairs Committee hearing in July, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) asked Nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Veterans’ Employment and Training for the Department of Labor Jeremiah Workman and Nominee to be Under Secretary for Health for the Department of Veterans Affairs John Bartrum about following orders from Donald Trump.

Transcript

00:00We're going to do. Senator Hassan. Well, thank you, Mr. Chair, and to both of our nominees.

00:08First, thank you and your families for your service, and congratulations on your nominations,

00:14and a special thanks to the families, because you both stepping up to do this work will be

00:21a test for them as well, and we're very, very grateful to you. And as Senator King and Senator

00:27Sheehy just said, we are all united here in serving veterans, and Mr. Workman, you and

00:32I talked about my dad served in World War II, your grandfather, and that was a really good

00:37discussion, and as I said, my father, having survived the Battle of the Bulge, I never heard

00:42him complain about a thing afterwards. Just a remarkable member of the greatest generation.

00:49But I also just want to address, Senator Sheehy and I would agree that community care is important.

00:55New Hampshire is the only state in the contiguous U.S. that doesn't have its own VA hospital,

01:00so community care has been very important. I would also say that some of the statistics

01:09that Senator Sheehy was talking about happened during the time when we passed and instituted

01:13the PACT Act, so there are a lot more people coming into the VA for health care. It was a

01:18big surge, and we still have work to do to implement the PACT Act effectively. And I'm also concerned

01:26because our community care in New Hampshire and across the country is also struggling.

01:31So to suggest that just by referring veterans to our community civilian health care system

01:37is going to solve their access to care problem, I think ignores the challenges that our community

01:43system, our civilian system, is going to have, especially in light of the reconciliation bill,

01:49the big, beautiful bill that is what President Trump calls it, that's going to strain our rural care even more.

01:57So I want us to all think about that in that context. I want us all to think about Senator King's concern

02:05about the way these contracts were canceled. It's just the way I think about it is, you know,

02:11good carpenters measure twice and cut once, and it seems to me that the VA went about this backwards.

02:17So I'll get to my questions now, but I just wanted to kind of level set us a little bit as I listen to the exchanges

02:26we've been going on. I am asking every nominee these days a straightforward question,

02:31and I'll start with you, Mr. Bartram, and then you, Mr. Workman. If directed by the president

02:35to take an action that would break the law, would you follow the law or follow the president's directive?

02:39Mr. Bartram.

02:41I don't anticipate ever being asked to break the law, but I follow the law.

02:46Thank you, and I should have said General Bartram. That's okay.

02:49Likewise, I don't anticipate the president asking me to break the law, but I would always follow the law.

02:55Well, I appreciate your commitment to following the law. I'd suggest that you review some of the things

03:00the president and his administration have done and consider the first part of your answer.

03:05Mr. Workman, I'd like to discuss an issue that I know we both care about a lot, ensuring that our nation

03:10fully supports the surviving families of our fallen heroes. I've been working with Senator Cassidy

03:16on a bipartisan bill that would help Gold Star and surviving spouses get employment assistance

03:21through DOL Vets, the office that you're nominated to lead. I'd like to work with you on this issue

03:26because I think we owe it to the families of the fallen to do everything that we can to support them

03:32and help them move forward. That's a debt we owe to those who sacrifice so much for our nation.

03:37Given your military experience, sir, can you talk to me about some of the sacrifices that military families make

03:43and the importance of supporting them, especially surviving spouses?

03:47Yes. Thank you for the question, Senator. And I do appreciate you taking that meeting with me.

03:52That was special to be able to look through your father's diary, and I appreciate that.

03:59But getting back to our Gold Star families, we owe these folks more than what—we owe them everything.

04:08Yeah.

04:09My wife, Jessica, is sitting right behind me. She could be the first one to tell you that

04:16staying at home while we are overseas doing our nation's work is, like I said in my opening statement,

04:23it's one of the toughest jobs in the military. We owe these folks everything that we have to offer,

04:30and if confirmed, I look forward to working with your office and providing technical assistance with—

04:36Well, thank you. That's what I was going to ask if you'd commit to working with us on this bill,

04:40and I look forward to working with you on that, too.

04:42General Bartram, in May, the President issued an executive order requiring the Secretary of the VA

04:48to create an action plan to support a full-service medical center in New Hampshire

04:52so that we're no longer that only state in the contiguous U.S. without a full-service VA hospital.

04:59I have long supported bringing a full-service hospital to New Hampshire,

05:03and I want to make sure that the VA is engaging with Granite Staters at every step of the way.

05:08If confirmed to be the VA's Undersecretary for Health, how will you work with New Hampshire veterans

05:13and our congressional delegation as the VA creates its plan for a full-service hospital in New Hampshire?

05:20Senator, I can certainly assure you that I will work with you and the state on that.

05:26We have already started a site survey process where we start the initial part of the site survey,

05:31and then down the road that will have a process where we engage with the state as we look at what we see as the need capabilities

05:40and capacities that are there and to work with the state on what right looks like as we move forward.

05:47Well, I appreciate that. We have understandably, like I think probably in every state,

05:52a very active group of veterans in New Hampshire. As you both have commented, veterans never stop the mission to serve,

05:59and that's true in New Hampshire as it is everywhere else, and they really want to engage directly with the VA

06:05about how to make this a successful planning scenario. So thank you, sir.

Maggie Hassan Asks Nominees Point-Blank: If Donald Trump Told You To Break The Law, Would You?

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