Maine Republican Susan Collins has proved to be a thorn in Donald Trump’s side more than once during his presidency, not simply because she considers herself a moderate and therefore stirs up debate where there might otherwise be none in a party that has seemed to support the President in lockstep, but also because she simply isn’t always a reliable vote in the Senate.
That’s not to say Senator Collins doesn’t vote with her party the majority of the time — she’s been in accord with the GOP more than some Democratic Senators have voted with their own party, like Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp, or Joe Donnelly.
But where it counts, on the most key issues, Collins at the very least advances debate on the topic at hand before indicating which way her vote is going to go. And in at least one very high-profile instance — the Republican health care plan that would have immediately and completely repealed Obamacare — she left Donald Trump swinging in the wind.
Now Collins is playing coy about the next big vote that would represent either a major victory for Trump or a devastating loss: His nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court:
Until I’ve had that opportunity to question the judge personally on a lot of important issues and then to observe his hearing, I will refrain from making a decision.”
Many members of Congress have already declared themselves, and largely it has been along party lines. But controversy has been boiling over regarding discovery of files regarding Kavanaugh’s decisions, positions, and documentation. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was reported to have discouraged Trump from nominating Kavanaugh, since his paper trail would lead to the kind of opposition from civil rights and women’s rights groups that a nominee could ill afford to weather as they face public scrutiny for a lifetime appointment.
And Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois has his own bone to pick with Kavanaugh:
In 2007 I sent Brett Kavanaugh this letter asking to explain his inaccurate and misleading testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. I’m still waiting for an answer. pic.twitter.com/c7XoGJKDSj
— Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) July 10, 2018
The testimony that Durbin references is from 2006, and Kavanaugh has yet to answer for why he lied to Congress when he testified that he had no involvement in the Bush administration’s detention and interrogation policies regarding “enemy combatants.”
Will the concerns of her fellow Senators be enough to quell Collins’ desire as a Republican to see a conservative, possibly any conservative, appointed to the nation’s highest court before a Democratic Congress can stop it?
Why don’t you call her office and find out:
Republican Senator Susan Collins now says that she is undecided on her vote to confirm Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh.
Let’s help her make her decision.
RETWEET and call: (207) 622-8414
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) August 18, 2018
Featured image via screen capture
