Two years ago this week, Senator Susan Collins voted against the confirmation of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on the Senate floor only after casting two deciding votes in committee to advance DeVos’ nomination. Collins even waited to announce that she would be voting against DeVos until it was crystal clear that her vote would not matter.
When Collins had the chance to be the deciding vote to block DeVos’ nomination, she voted with her party to advance the confirmation. But when her party had already secured enough votes to confirm DeVos on the Senate floor, and her vote no longer mattered, Collins got a hall pass to vote against her party.
Two years later, we’re seeing the exact same playbook from Collins. She has voted with Mitch McConnell twelve times against including witnesses and evidence throughout the impeachment trial, but when it was clear that Friday’s vote would ultimately fail, Collins voted for witnesses to take credit for bucking her party leaders -- only when it didn’t matter.
Collins even timed her announcement within minutes of Senator Lamar Alexander’s announcement that he would vote against witnesses, which guaranteed that there would be no witness testimony in the Senate trial. In what has been described by experts as a choreographed move, Collins was allowed to vote against McConnell to give herself political cover.
“This pattern of behavior from Senator Collins is nothing new and we’re not buying it anymore,” said Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts. “From Betsy DeVos, to the remaking of our federal courts, to last week’s witness vote, Collins has proven that when Mitch McConnell needs her vote she will be there to rubber stamp Trump’s radical agenda, but when he doesn’t need her she will play both sides. Maine deserves a Senator who will stand up for us when it really counts.”
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