[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 127 (Thursday, July 24, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S4695]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                     Nomination of Richard Topping

  Mr. BLUMENTHAL. Mr. President, I rise, sadly and reluctantly, to 
oppose Richard Topping as the next VA Financial Officer, and I say 
``sadly and reluctantly'' because the VA really needs leadership now at 
a time of mass firings, freezes on hiring, cuts, and the kinds of chaos 
that we are seeing at this great institution that serves our Nation's 
heroes. We need a really experienced, steady, principled financial 
leader. And, unfortunately, Richard Topping is not that person.
  He is not the kind of accountable and transparent leader that the 
American people and veterans across the country expect at the VA.
  When I questioned him at his nomination hearing--just to give you one 
example--about a government audit that found extreme errors in his 
judgment while he was CEO of a company called Cardinal, he blamed the 
Democrats; he blamed others for his own shortfalls. That is not 
leadership. That is not what our veterans identify as leadership.
  He has never been the chief financial officer of any company. He has 
never been CEO of a public company--that is to say, an institution 
responsible to shareholders or to the public--and he lacks essential 
qualifications in his educational background as well as in his 
experience.
  The VA's 2025 budget request is for $370 billion. It is second only 
to the Department of Defense. It needs someone who not only is loyal to 
President Trump--in fact, more than loyalty to President Trump--it 
needs someone with the objective qualifications and experience. His 
main qualification is, in fact, his fealty to Donald Trump.
  That is not the qualification that should count here. What we need is 
someone who will do the job with the excellence and integrity that 
veterans have a right and need to expect. I urge my colleagues to vote 
against this nomination.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Virginia.
  Mr. WARNER. I ask unanimous consent that we move up the 1:45 vote to 
start right now.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.