The nominee to be the next No. 2 official at the Department of Veterans Affairs has been advanced by a Senate panel, but could face a bumpy road to final confirmation.
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee on Thursday voted 13-6 to advance Tanya Bradsher, who was nominated by President Joe Biden to be the next deputy VA secretary. If confirmed, Bradsher, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who currently serves as VA chief of staff, would be the first woman to permanently hold the post.
But Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has signaled he could throw up roadblocks that slow full Senate approval for Bradsher over concerns that an IT system under her purview is not properly protecting whistleblowers' identities.
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“Sen. Grassley remains deeply concerned that Tanya Bradsher's mishandling of veterans' private, sensitive information — including whistleblowers' information — makes her ineligible for this role,” his office said in a statement to Military.com. “Sen. Grassley plans to continue working to shed light on Ms. Bradsher's shortcomings.”
Grassley's office has not explicitly said he plans to place what's known as a hold on Bradsher, but he previously used the procedural tactic to stall the confirmation of the VA's under secretary for benefits over concerns about whistleblower protections.
A hold does not prevent a nominee from being confirmed,…
