Douglas Allen Collins was born on August 16, 1966, in Gainesville, Georgia. After graduating from high school, he pursued a degree in political science and criminal law at North Georgia State College & University. During his time as a college student, Collins interned for the conservative Democrat Ed Jenkins on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. This experience was his first time living far from home, as he had commuted from home for college. He graduated from college in 1988.

In the late 1980s, Collins got his first glimpse into active duty by serving as a US Navy chaplain for two years. He attended the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary to earn his Master of Divinity. From 1994 to 2005, Collins worked as a senior pastor at Chicopee Baptist Church in Gainesville, Georgia. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, Collins joined the US Air Force Reserve, where he currently serves as a colonel.

In 2006, Collins ran for election to Georgia’s State House of Representatives and won. During his first term in the state legislature, Collins graduated from Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School in 2007 and established his own legal practice. During his time in the state legislature from 2007 to 2012, Collins was a staunch supporter of educational reform and the death penalty.

In 2012, Collins ran for Congress in Georgia’s redrawn 9th Congressional District. In the 116th Congress, he served as ranking member of the House Committee on the Judiciary. Collins rose to vice chair of the House Republican Conference, the fifth-highest post in GOP leadership. He served as Congressman until 2020, when he decided to run for a Georgia seat in the US Senate but he was defeated.

Collins continued to work as a lawyer and served as a managing partner at the Collins and Csider law firm beginning in 2010. Collins was a strong supporter of President Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. He is the author of The Clock and The Calendar, an insider perspective on the first impeachment of Donald Trump.

When President Trump won the 2024 presidential election in November 2024, he announced that he intended to nominate Collins to serve as the next secretary of Veterans Affairs. On February 4, the Senate confirmed Collins by a 77–23 vote, and he was sworn into office by Justice Clarence Thomas. As secretary of Veterans Affairs, Collins will oversee the Department of Veterans Affairs, managing services and programs that support veterans' healthcare, benefits, and other needs.