President Donald Trump announced his intent to nominate Iraq war veteran Daniel Gade, long a critic of disability pay for wounded veterans, for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Gade, of North Dakota, is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and served in Iraq, where he was decorated for valor with two purple hearts. He would be the only nonlawyer on the commission.

Gade has been an outspoken critic of disability pay for wounded veterans, traveling the country in recent years making speeches and giving interviews about his views that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs should move away giving disability checks to wounded soldiers. He was twice wounded during service in Iraq, which led to the loss of his right leg. He spent six months in hospital and six months as an outpatient when he had 40 surgeries.

He has warned about misguided efforts to help veterans with government assistance. He suggested offering incentives rather than checks for disability in a paper written for The Philanthropy Roundtable. His views have been met with criticism.

“People who stay home because they are getting paid enough to get by on disability are worse off,” Gade told The New York Times in 2015. “They are more likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. They are more likely to live alone. You've seen these guys. And the system is driving you to become one of them, if you are not careful.”

The EEOC is charged with working with veterans, particularly those who are disabled, mostly with enforcing laws that discriminate against hiring these workers because of mental and physical disabilities.

In fiscal year 2016, disability discrimination claims comprised approximately 40 percent of the EEOC's discrimination lawsuits, according to the commission's website.

Gade told a Florida public television station WSRE activity in the labor market defines who a person is.

“What's important is not our name. It's what we do for a living. What happens with a young veteran, he's paid to be sick and disabled. He identifies with a disability mindset,” Gade said. “Disability is an ugly word that means 'I can't.'”

He worked in various roles in the George W. Bush administration and has taught political science and leadership courses at West Point since 2011 as an assistant professor. He has also served on various advisory committees advising the secretary of Veterans Affairs, and was appointed to serve on the National Council on Disability by then-Speaker John Boehner in 2015.

Gade co-founded the Independence Project, a Veterans Department employment and empowerment experiment. He holds an M.P.A. and Ph.D. in public administration and policy from the University of Georgia and has taught public policy at his alma mater West Point since 2011.

This is Trump's second pick for commission after Janet Dhillon, who most recently worked as general counsel to Burlington Stores Inc. Trump designated Dhillon to serve as EEOC chairwoman. If confirmed, Gade would serve a five-year term ending in July 2021.

The EEOC general counsel seat remains vacated after David Lopez stepped down and openedemployment firm Outten & Golden's Washington office.