Over and over, Senator Collins has failed to take action to fight for the policies that Mainers need, opting instead to express her disappointment with an ineffective letter of concern. This week, Maine Democrats will highlight the issues where Collins has refused to back up the words of her letters with action.
When President Donald Trump fired Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson, Senator Susan Collins didn’t take action to hold him accountable—instead, she signed her name onto a letter requesting more details on the reasoning behind the firing. Atkinson was best known for his handling of a 2019 whistleblower complaint about President Trump pressuring the Ukrainian government to investigate his political rivals, which Atkinson suggested was the cause of his firing.
But besides sending a feckless letter of concern, Collins did nothing to hold Trump accountable for the dubious firing. When Trump went on to fire five Inspectors General in six weeks, Senator Collins took no meaningful action to check the president’s blatant abuse of power.
Of course, all of this came after Collins refused to use the power of her office to hold Trump accountable during the President’s impeachment trial and claimed he learned a “pretty big lesson,” after her vote to acquit him. She voted twelve times to block critical evidence and witness testimony before voting to acquit Trump on all charges. It’s clear that the only lesson he learned was that Senator Collins will let him get away with anything—including purging national security experts and government watchdogs.
“Senator Collins has done nothing of substance to hold Trump accountable for his never-ending abuses of power,” said Maine Democratic Party Chair Kathleen Marra. “Time and again, she has let Trump get away with brazen corruption with zero consequences. No matter how disappointed she says she is, no letter of discontent can make up for Senator Collins’ refusal to do her job.”
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