Last week, Senator Susan Collins remained silent while the Republican National Convention broke norms, and likely broke the law, by exploiting taxpayer resources to host partisan political events at the White House. The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities while they are working in their official capacity, but last week’s RNC was full of federal employees abusing their positions to boost the Trump campaign.

 

Not only did Trump turn official duties into political stunts, including taking part in a naturalization ceremony and granting a presidential pardon, he also had members of his administration utilize their official positions and duties to campaign for him. Both the Secretary of State and Acting Secretary of Homeland Security engaged in Hatch Act violations to promote Trump at the RNC.

 

For her part, Senator Collins skipped the RNC, presumably to avoid further questions about her refusal to admit her support for Donald Trump. While she didn’t attend the convention, she confirmed that she watched the proceedings, and she failed to voice a single criticism of the Trump campaign’s blatant disregard for the law.

 

“Senator Collins is so afraid to criticize this president that she allowed him to use the levers of government and even the White House--the people’s house--as political props without so much as a word,” said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts. “Mainers deserve a Senator who is willing to hold Trump accountable, even when it’s politically inconvenient.”

 

###