Susan Margaret Collins (born December 7, 1952) is an American politician serving as the
senior United States senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
from
Maine
Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...
. A member of the
Republican Party, she has held her seat since 1997 and is Maine's
longest-serving member of Congress.
Born in
Caribou, Maine
Caribou is the second largest city in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. Its population was 7,396 at the 2020 census, and between the 2010 and 2020 census it was the fastest-shrinking city in Maine. The city is a service center for the agr ...
, Collins is a graduate of
St. Lawrence University in
Canton, New York
Canton is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, St. Lawrence County, New York (state), New York. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two Administr ...
. Beginning her career as a staff assistant for Senator
William Cohen
William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979 ...
in 1975, she became staff director of the
Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee of the Committee on Governmental Affairs (which later became the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs) in 1981.
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
John R. McKernan Jr. then appointed her commissioner of the Maine Department of Professional and Financial Regulation in 1987. In 1992 President
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
appointed her director of the
Small Business Administration
The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stren ...
's regional office in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. Collins became a deputy state treasurer in the office of the
Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts
The Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts (commonly called the "treasurer") is an executive officer, elected statewide every four years.
The Treasurer oversees the Office of Abandoned Property, escheated accounts, the State Retirement ...
in 1993.
After moving back to Maine in 1994, she became the Republican nominee for governor of Maine in the
1994 general election. She was the first female major-party nominee for the post, finishing third in a four-way race with 23% of the vote. After her bid for governor in 1994, she became the founding director of the Center for Family Business at
Husson University
Husson University is a private university in Bangor, Maine. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and as of Fall 2020 had a total enrollment of 3,476 students, including 799 graduate students in master's and doctoral programs.
Husson U ...
in
Bangor, Maine
Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121).
Modern Bangor ...
.
Collins was first elected to the Senate
in 1996. She was reelected
in 2002,
in 2008,
in 2014, and
in 2020. She chaired the
Senate Special Committee on Aging from 2015 to 2021 and the
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
The United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs is the chief oversight committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over matters related to the Department of Homeland Security and other homeland s ...
from 2003 to 2007. Collins is a senior Republican woman in the Senate, the dean of Maine's congressional delegation, and the only
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
Republican in the
116th,
117th Congress, and
118th Congresses. She has been called a
moderate
Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...
Republican and is often a pivotal vote in the Senate. To date, Collins is the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate.
Collins, who has described herself as a pro-choice Republican, attracted controversy for her vote to confirm
Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since ...
to the
Supreme Court. She attributed her vote to her belief that Kavanaugh would not support overturning ''
Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...
''; in June 2022, Kavanaugh joined the majority opinion in ''
Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', , is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision overruled both ''R ...
'', which overturned ''Roe''.
During the
impeachment trial of Bill Clinton
The impeachment trial of Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, began in the U.S. Senate on January 7, 1999, and concluded with his acquittal on February 9. After an inquiry between October and December 1998, President Clint ...
, Collins was one of 10 Republican senators to vote to acquit him on the first charge and one of five to vote to acquit on the second, and during the
first impeachment trial of Donald Trump
The first impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, began in the U.S. Senate on January 16, 2020, and concluded with his acquittal on February 5. After an inquiry between September to November 2019, Presiden ...
, Collins joined all Senate Republicans but one in voting to acquit him of all charges. On February 13, 2021, she was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump of
incitement of insurrection
Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establis ...
in his
second impeachment trial. She was the only Republican senator to vote against confirming
Amy Coney Barrett
Amy Vivian Coney Barrett (born January 28, 1972) is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fifth woman to serve on the court, she was nominated by President Donald Trump and has served since October 27, 2020. ...
to the
Supreme Court. Upon the swearing-in of the
118th Congress
The 118th United States Congress is the next meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It is scheduled to meet in Washington ...
, Collins will be the only Republican to represent a Northeastern state in the Senate. Furthermore, since the commencement of the
116th Congress, Collins has been the only Republican from New England in either house of Congress.
Early life
One of six children, Collins was born in
Caribou, Maine
Caribou is the second largest city in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. Its population was 7,396 at the 2020 census, and between the 2010 and 2020 census it was the fastest-shrinking city in Maine. The city is a service center for the agr ...
, where her family operates a
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
business established by her great-great-great-grandfather, Samuel W. Collins, in 1844.
Her parents,
Patricia (née McGuigan) and
Donald F. Collins (1925–2018), each served as mayor of Caribou.
Her father, a decorated veteran of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, also served in the
Maine Legislature
The Maine Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. It is a bicameral body composed of the lower house Maine House of Representatives and the upper house Maine Senate. The Legislature convenes at the State House in Augus ...
, with one term in the House, and four in the Senate.
Collins's mother was born in
Barrancabermeja
Barrancabermeja is a city in Colombia, located on the shore of the Magdalena River, in the western part of the department of Santander. It is home to the largest oil refinery in the country, under direct management of ECOPETROL. Barrancabermeja ...
,
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, to American parents. Collins is of English and Irish ancestry. Her uncle,
Samuel W. Collins Jr., sat on the
Maine Supreme Judicial Court
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. From 1820 until 1839, justices served lifetime a ...
from 1988 to 1994 and served in the
Maine Senate
The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constituti ...
from 1973 to 1984.
Collins attended
Caribou High School, where she was president of the
student council.
During her senior year of high school in 1971, she was chosen to participate in the
U.S. Senate Youth Program, through which she visited
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, for the first time and had a two-hour conversation with Maine's first female
United States Senator
The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...
,
Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret Madeline Smith (née Chase; December 14, 1897 – May 29, 1995) was an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a U.S. representative (1940–1949) and a U.S. senator (1949–1973) from Maine. She was the firs ...
, also a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
. Collins is the first program delegate elected to the Senate and holds the seat once held by Smith.
After graduating from high school, she continued her education at
St. Lawrence University in
Canton, New York
Canton is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, St. Lawrence County, New York (state), New York. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two Administr ...
.
Like her father, she was elected to the
Phi Beta Kappa
The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...
national academic honor society. She graduated from St. Lawrence ''
magna cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...
'' with a bachelor's degree in government in 1975.
Early political career
Following graduation, Collins worked as a legislative assistant to
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
and later U.S. Senator
William Cohen
William Sebastian Cohen (born August 28, 1940) is an American lawyer, author, and politician from the U.S. state of Maine. A Republican, Cohen served as both a member of the United States House of Representatives (1973–1979) and Senate (1979 ...
from 1975 to 1987.
[ She was also staff director of the Oversight of Government Management Subcommittee on the from 1981 to 1987.][
In 1987, Collins joined the cabinet of ]Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
John R. McKernan Jr. as Commissioner of the Department of Professional and Financial Regulation.[ President ]George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
appointed her the New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
regional director for the Small Business Administration
The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and stren ...
in 1992.[ After briefly serving in this post until the 1992 election of President ]Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, she moved to and became Deputy State Treasurer of Massachusetts under Joe Malone
Maurice Joseph Malone (February 28, 1890 – May 15, 1969) was a Canadian professional ice hockey centre. He played in the National Hockey Association (NHA) and National Hockey League (NHL) for the Quebec Bulldogs, Montreal Canadiens, and Hamilto ...
in 1993.[
Returning to Maine, Collins won an eight-way Republican primary in the 1994 gubernatorial election, becoming the first woman nominated by a major party for ]governor of Maine
The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive.
The current governor of Maine is Ja ...
.[ During the campaign, she received little support from Republican leaders and was criticized by conservative groups for her more liberal views on social issues. She lost the general election, receiving 23% of the vote and placing third behind Democrat Joseph E. Brennan and the winner, ]Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independ ...
candidate Angus King
Angus Stanley King Jr. (born March 31, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Maine since 2013. A political independent since 1993, he previously served as the 72nd governor of Maine from 1995 ...
, her future Senate colleague.
In December 1994, Collins became the founding executive director of the Richard E. Dyke Center for Family Business at Husson College
Husson University is a private university in Bangor, Maine. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and as of Fall 2020 had a total enrollment of 3,476 students, including 799 graduate students in master's and doctoral programs.
Husson U ...
.[ She served in this post until 1996, when she announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by her former boss, William Cohen, who retired to become ]United States Secretary of Defense
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The ...
under President Clinton. With Cohen's public endorsement, she won a difficult four-way primary and faced Brennan, her opponent in the 1994 gubernatorial election, in the general election. She defeated him, 49% to 44%.
U.S. Senate
Elections
Collins was elected to the Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
in 1996. During the campaign she pledged that, if elected, she would serve only two terms.
Collins was reelected in 2002 over State Senator Chellie Pingree
Chellie Marie Pingree ( ; ''née'' Johnson; born April 2, 1955) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, her district includes most of the southern part of the state, inclu ...
, 58%–42%, in 2008 over Representative Tom Allen, 61.5%–38.5%, and in 2014 over Shenna Bellows, 68.5%–31.5%. In her first three reelection campaigns, she carried every county in Maine.
In 2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, Collins was challenged by Democratic State House Speaker Sara Gideon. The hotly contested race became the most expensive in Maine history, with Collins spending $23 million and Gideon nearly $48 million. The race also had national implications, as defeating Collins was a key part of the Democrats' strategy to achieve a Senate majority. Despite trailing Gideon in every public poll of the race, Collins defeated Gideon by a decisive margin.
In 2009, Collins was called one of "the last survivors of a once common species of moderate
Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American ...
Northeastern Republican". She is considered a centrist Republican and an influential player in the Senate.
Although she shared a centrist ideology with Maine's former senator, Olympia Snowe
Olympia Jean Snowe (; born February 21, 1947) is an American businesswoman and politician who was a United States Senator from Maine from 1995 to 2013. Snowe, a member of the Republican Party, became known for her ability to influence the outcom ...
, Collins is considered a "half-turn more conservative" than Snowe. She was consistently endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
, a major LGBT rights organization, until 2020. She supported John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
in the 2008 presidential election. She became the state's senior senator in 2013 when Snowe left the Senate and was replaced by independent Angus King
Angus Stanley King Jr. (born March 31, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Maine since 2013. A political independent since 1993, he previously served as the 72nd governor of Maine from 1995 ...
, who defeated Collins in the 1994 governor election.
Tenure
First term
In the 1990s, Collins played an important role during the Senate's impeachment trial
An impeachment trial is a trial that functions as a component of an impeachment. Several governments utilize impeachment trials as a part of their processes for impeachment, but differ as to when in the impeachment process trials take place and how ...
of Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
when she and Snowe sponsored a motion that would have allowed the Senate to vote separately on the charges and the remedy. The motion failed, and Snowe and Collins voted to acquit, believing that while Clinton had committed perjury
Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
, that was not grounds for removal from office.
In March 1997, the Senate adopted a broader investigation into White House and Congressional campaign fund-raising practices than Senate Republicans initially wanted. Collins said there were "a number of allegations that may or may not be illegal, but they may be improper."
In a May 1997 interview, Collins stated her support for a proposal by Tom Daschle banning all abortions after the fetus is capable of living outside the womb except to save the life of the woman or protect her from physical injury. Of an alternative measure proposed by Rick Santorum
Richard John Santorum ( ; born May 10, 1958) is an American politician, attorney, and political commentator. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2007 and was the Senate's third ...
that would ban partial-birth abortion, Collins said it "ignores cases in the medical literature involving women with very serious physical health problems".
In 2001 Collins authored a measure that granted the United States Secretary of Education
The United States secretary of education is the head of the U.S. Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activities re ...
authority to grant waivers that would relieve reservists and members of the National Guard
National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards.
Nat ...
from making federal student loan payments during active duty and grant the same privileges to victims and families of those affected by the September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
. The bill passed the Senate and House in December 2001.
In November 2002, the Senate overwhelmingly approved the creation of the Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
while a Democratic effort to remove the bill's provisions fell short on a 52-to-47 vote that came after President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
lobbied against the vote. Collins and other senators said that Senate and House Republicans, as well as the White House, had given them an "ironclad promise" to essentially rescind provisions in the first spending bill to pass Congress the following year.
Second term
In 2004, Collins was one of the primary sponsors of legislation overhauling the U.S. intelligence community by creating a new post, Director of National Intelligence, to oversee budgets and most assets of the spy agencies, and mandating that federal agencies establish minimum standards for states pertaining to issuing driver's licenses and birth certificates along with directing the United States Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the Federal government of the United States, U.S. United States federal executive departments, federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the I ...
to form standards for ID used to board airplanes. The bill passed in the House and Senate in December. Collins said, "This was the most difficult bill to bring from conception to birth that I can imagine being involved with. But that makes the victory doubly satisfying." Bush signed the bill, formally known as the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA) is a 235-page Act of Congress, signed by President George W. Bush, that broadly affects United States federal terrorism laws. The act comprises several separate titles with var ...
, on December 17, 2004.
In May 2005, Collins was one of 14 senators (seven Democrats and seven Republicans) to forge a compromise on the Democrats' use of the judicial filibuster
A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
, thus allowing the Republican leadership to end debate without having to exercise the nuclear option
In the United States Senate, the nuclear option is a parliamentary procedure that allows the Senate to override a standing rule by a simple majority, avoiding the two-thirds supermajority normally required to invoke cloture on a resolution to ...
. Under the agreement, Democrats agreed they would filibuster Bush's judicial nominees only in "extraordinary circumstances"; three Bush appellate court
A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
nominees (Janice Rogers Brown
Janice Rogers Brown (born May 11, 1949) is an American jurist. She served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2005 to 2017 and before that, Associate Justice of the Cal ...
, Priscilla Owen
Priscilla Richman (formerly Priscilla Richman Owen) (born October 4, 1954) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as the chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She was previously a justice ...
, and William Pryor) would receive a vote by the full Senate; and two others, Henry Saad Henry William Saad (born June 1948, in Detroit, Michigan)[Resume]
at US Dept of Justice website is a William Myers William, Wil, Bill, or Billy Myers may refer to:
Sports
*Bill Myers (baseball) (1886–?), American baseball player
*Billy Myers (1910–1995), shortstop in Major League Baseball
* William James Myers (1937–2017), American wrestler better known a ...
, were expressly denied such protection (both eventually withdrew their names from consideration).
In October 2008, Collins criticized robocalls by the McCain campaign claiming that Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
"has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge's home and killed Americans", asserting that those "kind of tactics have no place in Maine politics" and urging McCain to cease the calls immediately.
Third term
In 2009, Collins was criticized for blocking flu relief funding during the swine flu pandemic. She said she had done so on procedural grounds, because the funding did not belong in a stimulus bill: "while worthwhile, t doesnot boost our economy," and "it does not make sense to include $870million for pandemic flu preparedness."
In April 2010, Collins and Senator Joe Lieberman
Joseph Isadore Lieberman (; born February 24, 1942) is an American politician, lobbyist, and attorney who served as a United States senator from Connecticut from 1989 to 2013. A former member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee for ...
issued a subpoena seeking documents and interviews associated with the American government's investigation into the conduct of investigators during their interactions with Nidal Hasan Nidal (in Arabic نضال meaning warrior in Arabic) is a given name in Arabic. It may refer to:
* Mohammad Nidal al-Shaar (born 1956), Syrian politician and government minister
* Abou Nidal, Côte d'Ivoirian singer
* Umm Nidal (1948–2013), Pales ...
before the Fort Hood shooting. The Pentagon announced that the Obama administration would not authorize Senate investigators to question intelligence agents who reviewed e-mails between Hasan and an extremist Islamic cleric before the shooting. Collins and Lieberman issued a statement accusing the Departments of Justice and Defense of refusing "to provide access to their agents who reportedly reviewed Major Hasan's communications with radical extremist cleric Anwar al Awlaki and to transcripts of prosecution interviews with Hasan's associates and superiors, which DOD already provided to its internal review."
In May 2010, Collins and Snowe were the only two Republicans to vote for an unsuccessful Democratic measure that would have prevented bailouts, highlighted financial products of complexity and toughened consumer protection.
In February 2013, Collins announced her opposition to the confirmation of Chuck Hagel
Charles Timothy Hagel ( born October 4, 1946)[United States Secretary of Defense
The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The ...]
, citing her belief that Hagel's "past positions, votes and statements o not
O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), plu ...
match the challenges of our time." The announcement came as a surprise, as Collins was considered a possible supporter of his nomination, and it occurred while the nomination was being filibustered. The filibuster on Hagel's nomination was defeated, and he was confirmed later that month.
In May 2013, following a report that the Internal Revenue Service had put additional scrutiny on conservative groups, Collins said the revelation "contributes to the profound distrust that the American people have in government" and added that she was disappointed that Obama "hasn't personally condemned this and spoken out".
In April 2014, the Senate debated the Minimum Wage Fairness Act (S. 1737; 113th Congress)
The Minimum Wage Fairness Act () is a bill that would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage for employees to $10.10 per hour over the course of a two-year period. The bill was strongly supported ...
. The bill would have amended the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) is a United States labor law that creates the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people work over forty hours a week. It also prohibits employment of minors in "oppres ...
(FLSA) to increase the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour over two years. The bill was strongly supported by Obama and many Democratic senators but strongly opposed by Republicans in the Senate and House. Collins tried to negotiate a compromise bill that centrist Republicans could agree to but was unable to do so.
Fourth term
Collins cast her 6,000th consecutive roll call vote on September 17, 2015. Only William Proxmire
Edward William Proxmire (November 11, 1915 – December 15, 2005) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1957 to 1989. He holds the record for being the longest-serv ...
has a longer streak.
In May 2016, the Senate passed an appropriations bill containing an amendment by Collins that she said would help prevent the Department of Housing and Urban Development from gaining "national zoning authority for every neighborhood in our country". The legislation was given a veto threat by the White House, which was said by the Office of Management and Budget to oppose "the inclusion of problematic ideological provisions that are beyond the scope of funding legislation".
In 2016, Collins authored the Safe Treatments and Opportunities to Prevent Pain Act, a provision intended to encourage the National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
to further its research into opioid therapy alternatives for pain management, and the Infant Plan of Safe Care Act, which mandated that states ensure safe care plans are developed for infants who are drug-dependent before they are discharged from hospitals. These provisions were included in the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act
The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) was signed into law by President Obama on July 22, 2016. The bill was introduced by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Jim Sensenbrenner as the first major federal addiction act in 40 y ...
, legislation that created programs and expanded treatment access alongside implementing $181million in new spending as part of an attempt to curb heroin and opioid addiction. Obama signed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act into law on July 22, 2016.
On August 8, 2016, Collins announced that she would not vote for Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, the Republican nominee in the 2016 presidential election. She said that as a lifelong Republican she did not make the decision lightly but felt he was unsuitable for office, "based on his disregard for the precept of treating others with respect, an idea that should transcend politics". She considered voting for the Libertarian Party
Active parties by country
Defunct parties by country
Organizations associated with Libertarian parties
See also
* Liberal parties by country
* List of libertarian organizations
* Lists of political parties
Lists of political part ...
's ticket or a write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
.
In the 2016 United States presidential election
The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticket ...
, Collins received one electoral vote for vice president from a faithless elector
In the United States Electoral College, a faithless elector is an elector who does not vote for the candidates for U.S. President and U.S. Vice President for whom the elector had pledged to vote, and instead votes for another person for one or ...
in Washington.
In January 2017, Collins and Senator Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. Murkowski is the second-most senior Republican woman in the Senate, after S ...
voted for Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos
Elisabeth Dee DeVos ( ; ' Prince; born January 8, 1958) is an American politician, philanthropist, and former government official who served as the 11th United States secretary of education from 2017 to 2021. DeVos is known for her support for ...
, within the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, passing DeVos's nomination by a vote of 12–11 to allow the full Senate to vote. Collins justified her vote, saying, "Presidents are entitled to considerable deference in the selection of Cabinet members." Later, she and Murkowski were the only Republicans to break party lines and vote against DeVos's confirmation. This caused a 50–50 tie that was broken by Senate President
President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the speaker in some other assemblies.
The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's succession for its top executive office: for ex ...
Mike Pence
Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...
to confirm DeVos.
In March 2017, Collins said she could not support the American Health Care Act
The American Health Care Act of 2017 (often shortened to the AHCA or nicknamed Trumpcare) was a bill in the 115th United States Congress. The bill, which was passed by the United States House of Representatives but not by the United States S ...
, the House Republicans' plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
. She announced she would vote against the Senate version of the Republican bill to repeal Obamacare. Collins also clarified that she opposed repealing the ACA without a replacement proposal. On July 26, Collins was one of seven Republicans in voting against repealing the ACA without a suitable replacement. On July 27, she joined two other Republicans in voting against the "skinny" repeal of the ACA. In October, Collins called on Trump to support a bipartisan Congressional effort led by Lamar Alexander
Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee from ...
and Patty Murray
Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...
to reinstate insurer payments, saying that what Trump was doing was "affecting people's access and the cost of health care right now".
On December 14, 2017, the day the FCC was set to hold a vote on net neutrality, Collins and King sent the FCC a letter asking that the vote be postponed to allow public hearings on the merits of repealing net neutrality. They expressed concerns that repealing net neutrality could adversely affect the U.S. economy. As part of this drive, Collins is reported to support using the authority under the Congressional Review Act
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) is a law that was enacted by the United States Congress under House Speaker Newt Gingrich as Subtitle E of the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 () and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on Mar ...
to nullify the FCC's repeal vote. In 2018, Collins was one of three Republicans voting with Democrats to repeal rule changes enacted by the Republican-controlled FCC. The measure was meant to restore Obama-era net neutrality rules.
In 2017, The Lugar Center
Richard Green Lugar (April 4, 1932 – April 28, 2019) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Indiana from 1977 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party.
Born in Indianapolis, Lugar graduated from Den ...
, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit founded by Senator Richard Lugar, released a bipartisan index in cooperation with Georgetown University that ranked Collins the most bipartisan senator during the first session of the 115th Congress (and the only U.S. Senator from the Northeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
ranked among the top 10 most bipartisan senators).
In January 2018, in response to the Trump administration
Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...
's not implementing congressionally approved sanctions on Russia, Collins said it was confirmed Russia had tried to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, adding, "not only should there be a price to pay in terms of sanctions, but also we need to put safeguards in place right now for the elections for this year." She noted that the legislation received bipartisan support and predicted Russia would also attempt to interfere in the 2018 elections. In January 2019, Collins was one of 11 Republican senators to vote to advance legislation intended to block Trump from lifting sanctions on three Russian companies. She said she disagreed with "the easing of the sanctions because I think it sends the wrong message to Russia and to the oligarch and close ally of Mr. Putin, Oleg Deripaska, who will in my judgment continue to maintain considerable wnershipunder the Treasury's plan."
In 2018, Collins and Senators Tim Kaine
Timothy Michael Kaine (; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 38th lieutenant governor of Virgi ...
, Catherine Cortez Masto
Catherine Marie Cortez Masto (born March 29, 1964) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Nevada, a seat she has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Cortez Masto served as the 32nd ...
, and Shelley Moore Capito
Shelley Wellons Moore Capito ( ; born November 26, 1953) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the junior United States senator from West Virginia since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Capito served as the U.S. rep ...
authored the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act, legislation centered on providing a public health approach to Alzheimer's. The bill would authorize $20million annually to establish the "Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias Public Health Centers of Excellence" and aid statewide efforts to promote brain health and reduce cognitive decline. It passed the Senate and House and was signed by Trump in January 2019.
In September 2018, Collins authored two bills as part of the Opioid Crisis Response Act, a bipartisan package of 70 Senate bills that would alter programs across multiple agencies in an effort to prevent opioids from being shipped through the U.S. Postal Service and grant doctors the ability to prescribe medications designed to wean opioid addictions. The bills passed 99 to 1.
In February 2019, Collins was one of five senators to sponsor legislation authorizing the Treasury Department to mint coins honoring George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...
and Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously w ...
under the Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 and introduced the Reviving America's Scenic Byways Act of 2019 along with Ben Cardin
Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maryland, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representat ...
. The bill required the Secretary of Transportation to request nominations and make determinations in regard to roads that would be designed under a voluntary, community-based program and was signed into law by Trump in September of that year. After the Senate Intelligence Committee held a closed-door meeting with Michael Cohen, Collins said senators "clearly need to re-interview some witnesses whose accounts ohencontradicts". Her comment was seen as hinting at the Intelligence Committee's interest in speaking with Donald Trump Jr.
Donald John Trump Jr. (born December 31, 1977) is an American political activist, businessman, author, and former television presenter. He is the eldest child of Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021, and his firs ...
again. In June, Collins cosponsored an amendment to form the John S. McCainIII Human Rights Commission, which would hold hearings and briefings on human rights violations ahead of collaborations with the Trump administration to address the violations, and be included in a defense authorization bill McCain had helped create as Armed Services Committee chairman.
In her May 2019 commencement speech at Maine Maritime Academy
Maine Maritime Academy (Maine Maritime or MMA) is a public college focused on maritime training and located in Castine, Maine. The academy was established by the 90th Maine Legislature on March 21, 1941. Unlike federal service academies, a congr ...
, Collins said getting the Senate to approve funding for a new training ship for the academy was her "number one priority" and that funding was included in Trump's proposed budget while she would still seek further funds through other measures.
In July 2019, Collins cosponsored the Fallen Journalists Memorial Act, a bill introduced by Ben Cardin
Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maryland, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representat ...
and Rob Portman
Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Ohio since 2011. A member of the Republican Party ...
that would create a new, privately funded memorial that would be constructed on federal lands in Washington, D.C. in order to honor journalists, photographers, and broadcasters who died in the line of duty. Collins called freedom of the press "one of our fundamental constitutional rights" and spoke of the risks of reprisals faced by reporters around the world for their work.
In February 2020, Collins voted "not guilty" on both articles in the first impeachment trial of Donald Trump
The first impeachment trial of Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States, began in the U.S. Senate on January 16, 2020, and concluded with his acquittal on February 5. After an inquiry between September to November 2019, Presiden ...
.
On October 26, 2020, Collins was the only Republican senator to vote against the confirmation of Trump's nominee Amy Coney Barrett
Amy Vivian Coney Barrett (born January 28, 1972) is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The fifth woman to serve on the court, she was nominated by President Donald Trump and has served since October 27, 2020. ...
to the Supreme Court. Barrett was confirmed by a vote of 52–48.
Fifth term
On January 6, 2021, Collins was participating in the certification of the Electoral College vote count when Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol. She was on the Senate floor listening to speeches related to the objection to counting Arizona's votes when the Sergeant at Arms of the U.S. Senate and U.S. Capitol Police removed Vice President Mike Pence and Senators Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer
Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...
. She called the experience "frightening and appalling." Collins later called the storming "a dangerous, shameful, and outrageous attack on our democracy" and blamed Trump for "working up the crowd and inciting this mob". She called on him to call off the rioters. When Congress reconvened after the Capitol was secure, Collins voted to certify the count.
Toward the end of January 2021, Collins led a group of 10 Republican senators who requested that President Joe Biden join bipartisan negotiations when creating his COVID-19 economic relief package. After meeting with the group, Biden opted to pass his relief package using the reconciliation
Reconciliation or reconcile may refer to:
Accounting
* Reconciliation (accounting)
Arts, entertainment, and media Sculpture
* ''Reconciliation'' (Josefina de Vasconcellos sculpture), a sculpture by Josefina de Vasconcellos in Coventry Cathedra ...
process, for which he did not need Republican support.
On February 13, 2021, Collins was one of seven Republican senators to vote to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial.
Political analysis website FiveThirtyEight
''FiveThirtyEight'', sometimes rendered as ''538'', is an American website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which takes its name from the number of electors in th ...
finds that as of May 2021, Collins has voted in line with President Joe Biden around 92% of the time in the 117th Congress.
In May 2021, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
was reported to be investigating a defense contractor in Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
who allegedly funneled $150,000 to a pro-Collins super PAC and reimbursed donations to the Collins 2020 campaign, both of which are illegal. A spokesperson said that the campaign had no knowledge of the exchange.
Collins cast her 8,000th consecutive roll call vote on October 28, 2021; only Chuck Grassley
Charles Ernest Grassley (born September 17, 1933) is an American politician serving as the president pro tempore emeritus of the United States Senate, and the senior United States senator from Iowa, having held the seat since 1981. In 2022, h ...
and William Proxmire
Edward William Proxmire (November 11, 1915 – December 15, 2005) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1957 to 1989. He holds the record for being the longest-serv ...
have set longer streaks.
Collins voted to confirm Ketanji Brown Jackson
Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson ( ; born September 14, 1970) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Joe Biden on February 25, 202 ...
to the Supreme Court, making her one of the only three GOP senators to support her nomination, the other two being Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. Murkowski is the second-most senior Republican woman in the Senate, after S ...
and Mitt Romney.
Committee assignments
* Committee on Appropriations
The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Commi ...
** Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies
** Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
** Subcommittee on Defense
** Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development
** Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies
** Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies
* Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
** Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging
* Select Committee on Intelligence
* Special Committee on Aging
Caucus memberships
* Afterschool Caucuses
The Afterschool Caucuses are bipartisan caucuses in the United States Congress established to build support for afterschool programs and increase resources for afterschool care. Senators Lisa Murkowski ( R- AK) and Tina Smith ( D- MN) chair the Se ...
* Republican Main Street Partnership
The Republican Main Street Partnership is a 501(c)(4) organization that was allied with the congressional Republican Main Street Caucus. The Partnership continues to exist, while the Caucus was dissolved by its members in February 2019.
Hist ...
Political positions
Collins has been described as a moderate Republican and a centrist
Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to Left-w ...
, having voted with her party 59% of the time from 1997 to 2016. She voted with her party more often, about 87% of the time, in 2017, at the beginning of the Trump administration.
In 2013, Collins sided with Obama's position 75.9% of the time, one of only two Republicans to vote with him more than 70% of the time. As of January 2021, according to ''FiveThirtyEight
''FiveThirtyEight'', sometimes rendered as ''538'', is an American website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which takes its name from the number of electors in th ...
'', she had voted with Trump's positions about 65% of the time, the lowest among all Republican senators. During Trump's presidency she voted with the Republican majority on party-line votes much more often than during Obama's presidency. According to FiveThirtyEight, as of October 2022, she has voted with Biden's position about 69.1% of the time.
Collins voted to acquit Trump of all charges at his first impeachment trial. She said she did not think Trump's request that the Ukrainian President announce an investigation into Joe Biden met the "high bar" for "removing a duly elected president". She said Trump had "learned from this case" and "will be much more cautious in the future." Shortly after his acquittal, Trump fired witnesses in the impeachment inquiry. In the following months, he fired inspectors general of the State Department and the intelligence community. Collins criticized the firing, provoking a retaliatory response from Trump.
On February 13, 2021, Collins was one of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial. On May 27, 2021, along with five other Republicans and all present Democrats, she voted to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6th storming of the U.S. Capitol building. She had amended the bill in the hopes of drawing sufficient Republicans to support it, but the vote failed for lack of 60 required "yes" votes to prevent a filibuster
A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
.
Abortion
Collins is one of two Republican U.S. Senators, along with Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. Murkowski is the second-most senior Republican woman in the Senate, after S ...
, who describe themselves as pro-choice, or pro-abortion rights, and support ''Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...
''.
According to ''HuffPost
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', Collins has repeatedly voted to confirm judges who have signaled opposition to abortion rights. She has defended these votes by citing her support for both of Obama's Supreme Court appointments. She voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since ...
to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying she did not believe he would overturn ''Roe''. She said she felt "vindication" in 2018 when Kavanaugh voted with the court's four Democratic-appointed justices and Chief Justice John Roberts
John Glover Roberts Jr. (born January 27, 1955) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as the 17th chief justice of the United States since 2005. Roberts has authored the majority opinion in several landmark cases, including ''Nati ...
not to hear cases against Planned Parenthood from Kansas and Louisiana, although Planned Parenthood disagreed with her assessment of the situation. In 2020, Collins faced renewed criticism of her vote by progressive groups when Kavanaugh said states should be permitted to severely reduce access to and availability of abortion in his dissent in '' June Medical Services LLC v Russo''.
In 2021, Collins was one of three Republican senators to decline to sign an ''amicus'' brief supporting an anti-abortion Mississippi law banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. She faced renewed criticism after Kavanaugh voted with the majority, in a 5-4 vote, to reject an emergency petition to block a Texas law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy; the law went into effect while facing continued challenges in the courts. Responding to the legislation and criticism, Collins denounced the Texas anti-abortion law as "extreme, inhumane, and unconstitutional" and said she supports the ''Roe'' precedent as the "law of the land".
In 2022, Collins received additional criticism for her support of Kavanaugh after a leaked draft of the Supreme Court opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization
''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', , is a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. The court's decision overruled both ''R ...
indicated the Court would overturn ''Roe v. Wade'', with Kavanaugh breaking with his statements that ''Roe'' was " settled law". She has also received criticism for calling the police in reaction to chalk protests due to her votes to confirm justices involved in the draft ruling.
On May 11, 2022, Collins voted against the Women's Health Protection Act
The Women's Health Protection Act () is a piece of legislation introduced in the United States House of Representatives aimed at expanding abortion rights established in ''Roe v. Wade'' and '' Planned Parenthood v. Casey''. It was introduced in 20 ...
of 2022, a bill that would prohibit a variety of restrictions on access to abortion, on the basis that it went too far beyond the standards established in ''Roe v. Wade
''Roe v. Wade'', 410 U.S. 113 (1973),. was a landmark decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court ruled that the Constitution of the United States conferred the right to have an abortion. The decision struck down many federal and s ...
'' and '' Planned Parenthood v. Casey''. Collins joined Murkowski in drafting alternative legislation that would codify ''Roe'' and ''Casey'' into federal law more narrowly.[
]
Economy
In 2004, Collins expressed concerns about how the Bush administration wanted to implement its proposed plan to cut taxes. She cited deficit concerns as a reason for opposing the plan, but ultimately voted in favor of the Bush tax cuts
The phrase Bush tax cuts refers to changes to the United States tax code passed originally during the presidency of George W. Bush and extended during the presidency of Barack Obama, through:
* Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act o ...
in 2003 and for their extension in 2006. Collins was one of just three Republican lawmakers to vote for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, prompting heated criticism from the right for crossing party lines.
In December 2017, Collins voted to pass the 2017 Republican tax plan. The bill greatly reduces corporate taxes while reducing taxes for some individuals and increasing them for others by removing some popular deductions. The bill also repeals Affordable Care Act's individual mandate, leaving thirteen million Americans uninsured and raising premiums by an estimated additional 10% per year. After the vote, Collins said she received assurances from congressional leaders that they would pass legislation intended to mitigate some of the adverse effects of the individual mandate's repeal. When asked how she could vote for a bill that would increase the deficit by an estimated $1trillion (over ten years) after having railed against the deficit during the Obama administration, Collins insisted that it would not increase the deficit. She said she had been advised in this determination by economists Glenn Hubbard Glenn Hubbard may refer to:
*Glenn Hubbard (baseball) (born 1957), American baseball player
*Glenn Hubbard (economist)
Robert Glenn Hubbard (born September 4, 1958) is an American economist and academic. He served as the Dean of the Columbia Univ ...
, Larry Lindsey, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin
Douglas James "Doug" Holtz-Eakin (born February 3, 1958) is an American economist. He was formerly an economics professor at Syracuse University, Director of the Congressional Budget Office, and chief economic policy adviser to Senator John McCain ...
. Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin wrote that Hubbard and Holtz-Eakin denied saying the plan would not increase the deficit.
After voting for the tax plan, Collins became the top recipient of political donations from private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...
firms. Blackstone chief executive Steven Schwarzman donated $2 million to Collins's PAC, and Ken Griffin of the hedge fund Citadel
A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core.
I ...
donated $1.5 million.
Along with all other Senate and House Republicans, Collins voted against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to s ...
. On September 30, 2021, she was one of 15 Senate Republicans to join all Democrats and both Independents to approve a temporary spending bill to continue government funding and avoid a government shutdown
A government shutdown occurs when the legislative branch does not pass key bills which fund or authorize the operations of the executive branch, resulting in the cessation of some or all operations of a government.
Government shutdowns in the Un ...
. On October 7, 2021, she voted with 10 other Republicans and all members of the Democratic caucus to break the filibuster on raising the debt ceiling
A debt limit or debt ceiling is a legislative mechanism restricting the total amount that a country can borrow or how much debt it can be permitted to take on. Several countries have debt limitation restrictions.
Description
A debt limit is a l ...
. She voted with all Republicans against the legislation to raise the debt ceiling.
Environment
In 2008, Collins joined the bipartisan Gang of 20, which sought to break a deadlock on a bill allowing offshore drilling
Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the te ...
that would devote billions in proceeds to renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
development.
In February 2017, Collins was the only Republican to vote against undoing an Obama administration rule that required coal mining companies to avoid contaminating local waterways. She was the only Republican to vote against the confirmation of Scott Pruitt
Edward Scott Pruitt (born May 9, 1968) is an American lawyer, lobbyist and Republican politician from the state of Oklahoma. He served as the fourteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from February 17, 2017, to Jul ...
, and later Andrew Wheeler, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
.
In 2017, Collins voted for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, , is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs A ...
, allowing oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, after unsuccessfully attempting to remove that part of the bill.
As of 2022, Collins has a lifetime score of 60% from the League of Conservation Voters, the highest of any incumbent Senate Republican.
Foreign policy and national security
In 2003, Collins voted in favor of the Iraq War Resolution
The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002,[Ben Nelson
Earl Benjamin Nelson (born May 17, 1941) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 37th governor of Nebraska from 1991 to 1999 and as a United States Senator from Nebraska from 2001 to 2013. He is a member of the De ...](_blank)
and Evan Bayh
Birch Evans Bayh III ( ; born December 26, 1955) is an American lawyer, lobbyist, and Democratic Party politician who served as a United States senator from Indiana from 1999 to 2011 and the 46th governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1997.
Bayh ...
met with Bush's advisor on Iraq and Afghanistan, Douglas Lute
Lt. Gen. Douglas Edward Lute (born November 3, 1952) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general and public servant who served as the United States Permanent Representative to NATO from 2013 to 2017. He was nominated for the post by Preside ...
, and expressed support for a prohibition on spending for major reconstruction projects, the proposal requiring Iraqis to pay for its security forces to be trained and equipped and reimburse the American military for the estimated $153million a month the military spent on fueling in combat operations in Iraq. Collins said after the meeting that while the administration did not have a view entirely similar to the senators', it at least seemed open to their proposal. In June 2014, while growing violence erupted in Iraq under the leadership of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki
Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki ( ar, نوري المالكي; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party and was the prime minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and the vice president ...
, Collins said the violence would have been slower had a residual NATO force been present in Iraq and that the question was whether airstrikes were effective.
In September 2009, Collins said she was unsure whether sending more American troops to Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
would help end the Afghanistan War, but cited the need for "more American civilians to help build up institutions" and growth of the Afghan army. In 2010, she called for the removal of Arnold Fields as Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction
Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) is the U.S. government's leading oversight authority on Afghanistan reconstruction. Congress created the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction to p ...
, citing his repeated expressing of concern for the SIGAR and his disappointment with the Obama administration's "ongoing failure to take decisive action". In August 2017, Collins commended Trump for providing clarity after years of the U.S. lacking a "clear focus and defined strategy" with respect to Afghanistan and said he made the case that the Afghan government must participate "in defending its people, ending havens for terrorists, and curtailing corruption".
Before Obama met President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping
Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, s ...
at an informal retreat in June 2013, Collins cosponsored legislation that would authorize the Commerce Department to investigate whether currency manipulation is a form of subsidization. In April 2018, she said the U.S. needed "a more nuanced approach" in dealing with China but gave Trump "credit for levying these tariffs against the Chinese, with whom we've talked for a decade about their unfair trade practices and their theft of intellectual property from American firms", adding that while the U.S. needed to toughen its stance against China, it would need to do this in a manner that did not create "a trade war and retaliation that will end up with our European and Asian competitors getting business that otherwise would have come to American farmers".
In March 2015, Collins was one of seven Senate Republicans not to sign a March 2015 letter to the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
attempting to cast doubt on the Obama administration's authority to engage in nuclear-proliferation negotiations with Iran. She announced her opposition to the Iran nuclear agreement
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; fa, برنامه جامع اقدام مشترک , barnāmeye jāme'e eqdāme moshtarak (, ''BARJAM'')), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear ...
later that year, saying it was "fundamentally flawed because it leaves Iran as capable of building a nuclear weapon at the expiration of the agreement as it is today", and predicted Iran "will be a more dangerous and stronger nuclear threshold state" after the agreement expires. In June 2019, after the United States nearly launched an airstrike on Iran after Iran downed an American surveillance drone, Collins said the U.S. could not "allow Iran to continue to launch this kind of attack" but warned that miscalculations by either side "could lead to a war in the Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
".
In March 2017, Collins co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act
The Israel Anti-Boycott Act (IABA) (; ) was a proposed anti-BDS law and amendment to the Export Administration Act of 1979 designed to allow U.S. states to enact laws requiring contractors to sign pledges promising not to boycott any goods from I ...
(S.270), which made it a federal crime, punishable by a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlement
Israeli settlements, or Israeli colonies, are civilian communities inhabited by Israeli citizens, overwhelmingly of Jewish ethnicity, built on lands occupied by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. The international community considers Israeli se ...
s in the occupied Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories are the two regions of the former British Mandate for Palestine that have been militarily occupied by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967, namely: the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip. The I ...
if protesting actions by the Israeli government.
In March 2018, Collins was one of five Republican senators to vote against tabling a resolution that would cease the U.S. military's support for Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
's bombing operations in Yemen. In December, she was one of seven Republican senators to vote for the resolution withdrawing American armed forces' support for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen and an amendment by Todd Young
Todd Christopher Young (born August 24, 1972) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Indiana, a seat he has held since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Young previously served as the U.S. re ...
ensuring midair refueling between American and Saudi Air Force did not resume. Collins was one of seven Republicans to vote to end U.S. support for the war in Yemen in February 2019, and, in May 2019, she was one of seven Republicans to vote to override Trump's veto of the resolution on Yemen. In June 2019, Collins was one of seven Republicans to vote to block Trump's Saudi arms deal providing weapons to Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Jordan and one of five Republicans to vote against an additional 20 arms sales.
In May 2020, Collins voted to confirm U.S. Representative John Ratcliffe as Director of National Intelligence. In 2019, there was bipartisan opposition to Ratcliffe's nomination. ''The Washington Post'' called Collins's support for Ratcliffe "key" to his 2020 confirmation.
Gun policy
Collins voted for the Manchin– Toomey bill to amend federal law to expand background checks for gun purchases. She voted against a ban on high-capacity (more than ten rounds) magazines. She has received a C+ grade on gun rights from the NRA
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent gun rights lobbying organization while conti ...
, and D− from Gun Owners of America.
In 2018, Collins co-sponsored the NICS Denial Notification Act, legislation developed in the aftermath of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
On February 14, 2018, 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Miami suburban town of Parkland, Florida, murdering 17 people and injuring 17 others. Cruz, a former student at t ...
that would require federal authorities to inform states within a day after a person failing the National Instant Criminal Background Check System attempted to buy a firearm.
In February 2019, Collins supported the Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act, legislation enabling the attorney general to deny the sale of a firearm to people on the no-fly list or selectee list. It passed the House but failed to advance in the Senate.
In 2020, Gun Owners of Maine gave Collins a B rating, writing, "On 2nd Amendment issues, Susan Collins generally stands with gun owners. She has opposed magazine capacity restrictions and voted to prohibit lawsuits against gun manufacturers for crimes committed with guns."
In 2022, Collins became one of ten Republican senators to support a bipartisan agreement on gun control, which included a red flag provision, a support for state crisis intervention orders, funding for school safety resources, stronger background checks for buyers under the age of 21, and penalties for straw purchases.
Health care
In May 2017, Collins was one of six senators to introduce the Medicaid Coverage for Addiction Recovery Expansion Act, legislation that would allow treatment facilities with up to 40 beds reimbursement by Medicaid for 60 consecutive days of inpatient services and serve as a modification of the Medicaid Institutions for Mental Disease law, which authorized Medicaid coverage only for facilities with 16 or fewer beds.
Collins voted against repealing the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...
in September 2017. Later that year, she voted with Republican senators to repeal the individual mandate
An individual mandate is a requirement by law for certain persons to purchase or otherwise obtain a good or service.
United States Militia act
The Militia Acts of 1792, based on the Constitution's militia clause (in addition to its affirmativ ...
of the ACA. The absence of the individual mandate weakened the ACA's legal stability, leading the Trump administration in 2020 to seek to have the ACA ruled unconstitutional by the courts (in a 5–4 Supreme Court decision in 2012, Chief Justice Roberts upheld the ACA by citing the individual mandate). The ACA remained intact, despite the lack of the individual mandate, following a 7-2 Supreme Court decision to reject a challenge to the law.
In December 2017, Collins was one of nine senators to sign a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...
describing opioid use as a nonpartisan issue that was "ravaging communities in every state and preys upon individuals and families regardless of party affiliation" and requesting that they "make every effort to ensure that new, substantial and sustained funding for the opioid epidemic is included in any legislative package".
In April 2019, Collins cosponsored the Protecting Jessica Grubb's Legacy Act, legislation that authorized the sharing of the medical records of patients being treated for substance use disorder among healthcare providers if the patient provided the information. Cosponsor Shelley Moore Capito
Shelley Wellons Moore Capito ( ; born November 26, 1953) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the junior United States senator from West Virginia since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Capito served as the U.S. rep ...
said the bill also prevented medical providers from unintentionally providing opioids to individuals in recovery.
Immigration
In 2007, Collins voted against the bipartisan McCain-Kennedy comprehensive immigration reform proposal, which would have given undocumented immigrants (including those brought into the United States as minors) a pathway to citizenship if they met certain requirements, while also substantially increasing border enforcement. In 2010, she voted against the DREAM Act
The Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act, known as the DREAM Act, is a United States legislative proposal to grant temporary conditional residency, with the right to work, to illegal immigrants who entered the United States a ...
. In 2013, Collins was one of 14 Republicans to vote in favor of a comprehensive immigration bill that included border security and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. She opposed Obama's decision to achieve immigration reform through executive action, which gave deportation relief to as many as five million undocumented immigrants through Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, colloquially referred to as DACA, is a United States immigration policy that allows some individuals with unlawful presence in the United States after being brought to the country as children to receive ...
(DACA).
In 2017, Collins opposed Trump's executive order
In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...
to ban entry to the U.S. by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries, saying, "The worldwide refugee ban set forth in the executive order is overly broad and implementing it will be immediately problematic." In 2019, she introduced bipartisan legislation to oppose Trump's declaration emergency at the southern border in order to build a wall. She was one of a dozen Republicans who broke with their party, joining all Democrats, to vote for the resolution rejecting the emergency declaration. In September 2019, she again voted with 10 other Republicans to overturn Trump's emergency declaration on the border.
LGBTQ policy
In 2004, Collins was one of six Republicans who voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would ban same-sex marriage. She voted in favor of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010
The Don't Ask, Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010 (, ) is a landmark United States federal statute enacted in December 2010 that established a process for ending the "don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) policy (), thus allowing gay, lesbian, and bisexu ...
and was the primary Republican sponsor of the repeal effort. In 2015, she was one of 11 Republican senators to vote to give Social Security benefits to same-sex couples in states where same-sex marriage was not yet recognized.
In 2017 and 2019, Collins co-sponsored bills with Democratic senators to prevent Trump from banning transgender people from the United States military and prohibit anti-LGBT housing discrimination. She was the only Republican co-sponsor of the Equality Act, which aims to comprehensively prohibit LGBT discrimination. In February 2021, Collins announced she would no longer co-sponsor the bill over amendments that were not made.
In 2021, Collins was one of 49 senators to vote for an amendment to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package or American Rescue Plan, is a economic stimulus bill passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021, to s ...
, which aimed to defund schools allowing transgender students to compete in sports.
The Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
(HRC), which rates politicians' support for LGBT
' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
The LGBT term is a ...
issues, gave Collins a score of 85% during the 114th Congress (2015–17), and a score of 33% during the 115th Congress (2017–19). She received a 49% score in the 116th Congress. In 2020, the HRC endorsed an opponent of Collins for the first time since 1996, citing her votes for judicial nominees, particularly Brett Kavanaugh
Brett Michael Kavanaugh ( ; born February 12, 1965) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President Donald Trump on July 9, 2018, and has served since ...
. In 2022, Collins was one of 12 Republicans in the Senate voting to advance and pass the Respect for Marriage Act
The Respect for Marriage Act (RFMA; ) is a landmark United States federal law passed by the 117th United States Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden. It repeals the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), requires the U.S. federal gover ...
, legislation intended to codify same-sex marriage rights into federal law.
Net neutrality
Collins strongly supports FCC Open Internet Order 2010 The Federal Communications Commission Open Internet Order of 2010 is a set of regulations that move towards the establishment of the internet neutrality concept. Some opponents of net neutrality believe such internet regulation would inhibit innova ...
. After former Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...
chairman Ajit Pai
Ajit Varadaraj Pai (; born January 10, 1973) is an American lawyer who served as chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2017 to 2021. He has been a partner at the private-equity firm Searchlight Capital since April 20 ...
repealed net neutrality regulations in 2017, Collins and Senator Angus King
Angus Stanley King Jr. (born March 31, 1944) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Maine since 2013. A political independent since 1993, he previously served as the 72nd governor of Maine from 1995 ...
announced they would support a bipartisan enactment of the Congressional Review Act
The Congressional Review Act (CRA) is a law that was enacted by the United States Congress under House Speaker Newt Gingrich as Subtitle E of the Contract with America Advancement Act of 1996 () and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on Mar ...
to reverse the FCC's decision. In another statement, Collins argued that net neutrality regulations would help rural communities obtain access to the internet and that the regulations strengthened consumer privacy protections, citing the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal
In the 2010s, personal data belonging to millions of Facebook users was collected without their consent by British consulting firm Cambridge Analytica, predominantly to be used for political advertising.
The data was collected through an app ca ...
for failing to protect consumers' privacy.
United States Postal Service
In 2006, Collins sponsored the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act
The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) is a United States federal statute enacted by the 109th United States Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 20, 2006.
The bill was introduced in the United Stat ...
, which passed the Senate unanimously. The bill requires the USPS to prepay 50 years' worth of employee health and retirement benefits.
Honors and awards
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urgin ...
, a lobbying group, awarded Collins the 2013 Spirit of Enterprise Award for her support of its positions.
On May 7, 2014, ''The National Journal'' recognized Collins as the senator with "perfect attendance", noting that she had not missed a single vote since her election to the Senate in 1997.
In 2014, ''Elle'' magazine named Collins one of its "10 Most Powerful Women in D.C".
Collins received the Publius Award from the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress on March 12, 2014.
The Veterans of Foreign Wars gave Collins its 2017 Congressional Award, which is annually given to one member of Congress for their significant legislative contributions on behalf of military veterans.
Honorary degrees
Personal life
Collins is married to Thomas Daffron, a lobbyist who worked as chief operating officer at Jefferson Consulting Group in Washington, D.C. from 2006 to 2016; he consulted on Collins's 1996, 2002 and 2008 Senate campaigns. They were married on August 11, 2012, at the Gray Memorial United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...
in Caribou, Maine
Caribou is the second largest city in Aroostook County, Maine, United States. Its population was 7,396 at the 2020 census, and between the 2010 and 2020 census it was the fastest-shrinking city in Maine. The city is a service center for the agr ...
. Collins is Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
.
Electoral history
Collins has been on the general-election ballot six times in Maine: once for governor, five times for U.S. senator. She has been defeated just once, in her 1994 campaign for governor.
See also
*Women in the United States Senate
This article covers the history of women in the United States Senate and various milestones achieved by female senators. It includes a list of all women who have served in the Senate, a list of current female senators, and a list of states repre ...
Notes and references
External links
Senator Collins
official U.S. Senate website
Susan Collins for Senate
Column archive
in the ''Bangor Daily News
The ''Bangor Daily News'' is an American newspaper covering a large portion of central and eastern Maine, published six days per week in Bangor, Maine.
The ''Bangor Daily News'' was founded on June 18, 1889; it merged with the ''Bangor Whig and ...
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Susan
1952 births
20th-century American politicians
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American people of English descent
American people of Irish descent
Candidates in the 1994 United States elections
Catholics from Maine
Female United States senators
Living people
Maine Republicans
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Republican Party United States senators from Maine
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