Asked about the GOP-controlled Senate's lack of legislative accomplishments in a new POLITICO report, Republican Senator Susan Collins replied with an empty promise: “It will definitely change soon.”
While Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s Senate has declined to take up legislation on issue after issue, from the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization to campaign finance reform, the Senate instead “has been almost entirely focused on confirming President Donald Trump’s personnel and judges.”
Collins has been part of that strategy, voting with her party in Washington to confirm dozens of anti-choice and anti-environment federal judges to lifetime appointments. And when it comes to major legislation, Senator Collins is doing more harm than good after helping pass the controversial Republican tax law, a “lopsided giveaway to corporations” that sparked the GOP lawsuit to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and protections for pre-existing conditions, and will add nearly $2 trillion to the national debt.
Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Lisa Roberts issued the following statement:
"In Senator Collins' Washington, taking care of her party leaders and the special interests who fund her campaigns is more important than having a Senate focused on fixing problems for Mainers. After more than two decades in Washington, Senator Collins’ decision to look the other way while Mitch McConnell promotes partisan gridlock and grinds the Senate to a halt is further proof that she has changed and is no longer putting Maine first."
ICYMI: Senator Collins Enables McConnell’s Gridlock, Defends Senate's Failure to Work for Mainers
With legislative activity in the Senate essentially shut down, Washington special interests profit while Collins does nothing