The Least Self-Aware Senator
Just beyond parody at this point.
I have long referred to Susan Collins (R-ME) as “Senator Concerned.”
Well…
“I am concerned if the Trump administration is clawing back money that has been specifically appropriated for a particular purpose,” she said.
This is from a Politico report: Senate’s top appropriator says Elon Musk has gone too far.
Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, is raising alarms about the influence that billionaire Elon Musk is wielding inside the Trump administration and across federal agencies.
“There’s no doubt that the president appears to have empowered Elon Musk far beyond what I think is appropriate,” she told reporters Wednesday. “I think a lot of it is going to end up in court.”
After the only known one-on-one meeting between Collins and Musk on Capitol Hill late last year, she had said she was “very impressed with his energy and dedication.”
Since that time, Musk has helped orchestrate a de facto shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development and gained access to the Treasury Department system that controls trillions of dollars in federal payments.
Collins also repeated her unease Wednesday that the White House is undermining Congressional spending power.
So, I am happy to see any member of the Senate, especially of the majority party, to be paying attention to all of this. But I think we should be well beyond just being “concerned.” And it isn’t encouraging that she only mentioned the courts and not Congress (you know, where she works and theoretically one of three branches of government).
Unlike many Senate Republicans, Collins has been vocal about her discomfort with the White House usurping Congress’ constitutional power of the purse.
I think that “vocal” is perhaps overselling her response.
And her concern only goes so far.
Collins had previously criticized the Office of Management and Budget’s move to freeze the disbursement of federal loans and grants as “far too sweeping” and warned it would have “an adverse effect on the delivery of services and programs.”
She still plans to vote to confirm Russ Vought, Trump’s pick for White House budget chief, who is expected to play a key role in the administration’s larger efforts to wrest spending power away from congress. Vought is expected to be confirmed on Thursday.
BTW, I can’t think of a time wherein Senator Collin’s “concern” mattered one whit.
You know, Maine might like it better as Canada’s 11th Province.
“I think that “vocal” is perhaps overselling her response.”
Her response is vocal, in the sense that she only plans to speak about it, and not to take any other action.
If there is ever a monument to the fall of the Republic, it should have small statue next to it, with the inscription:
“At the time, Senator Collins was quite concerned.”
I do think that members of Congress fear that their safety and that of their families may be threatened if they speak out too strongly against Trump. It’s a legitimate fear.
I’ll never forget the selfie video of those two women who invaded the Capitol on Jan. 6 who stated that they were going to find Nancy Pelosi and put a bullet through “that bitch’s” brain.
The two women were Dawn Bancroft and Diana Santos-Smith. Both were wearing MAGA hats.
I expect that her offices are getting a lot of calls from constituents who are telling her that they too are concerned and would like her to express her concern but do nothing else.
Maybe people in Maine like being concerned.
I saw a video of the House Oversight Committee. One of the Dems made a motion to have Musk come and testify. Of course, the motion got tabled.
One of the tweets in the thread asked which Democrat was the one who was, and I quote directly, “acting like a child.”
Rich, to say the least.
Russ Vought. Author of Project 2025, which specifically called for most, if not all, of THIS SPECIFIC HAVOC.
She still plans on confirming him?
JFC. Beyond parody is right.
Best case scenario: she loses her primary to a rw nut job who then loses to a sane Democrat. That said, she’s one term past her expiration date. Dobbs and Canadian tariffs should do her in, if there are elections in 2026.
She’s just an embarrassment at this point. I can at least understand a senator from Alabama or Mississippi feeling forced to support the MAGA agenda. But, in Maine, she’d actually be rewarded for standing up to Trump’s excesses.
This is SO Susan Collins.
The Margaret Dumont of the Republican party.
Taking her statements of concern seriously is like taking Trump at his word – by now no honest, informed person does.
@dazedandconfused: Good one, I’d use it but most folks I know have no idea who she was.
@dazedandconfused:
Things are never too dark for a little Groucho.
She is the Lucy to Charlie Brown’s football.
@Kurtz:
Yeah. I was pranked by a contractor while sorting out some contract details recently, he said we needed a “sanity clause”. I asked what the heck that was and he said “google it“.
A lack of “self-awareness” and “having no soul left” are not mutually exclusive traits. Individuals can be deficient in either. I suspect Sen. Collins definitely lacks the later.
@dazedandconfused:
How dare you insult Margaret Dumont like that!
I see no reason to believe that Ms. Collins isn’t perfectly aware of her situation, and content with it. If she actually had a soul, we’d surely have seen some sign of that by now.
I think Collins knows precisely what she is doing, and how others perceive it, and she doesn’t care. Of greater concern, IMO, are the voters who have reliably returned her to office, as they, too, know exactly what she is doing (or not doing), and they don’t care, either.
Don’t forget she called the cops over sidewalk chalk.
BTW: point taken about self-awareness. I just find it amazing how she can even utter the word “concerning” at this stage of the game.
I will stand by “beyond parody,” however!
Hmm, I can think of once when her vote mattered. She voted against Obamacare repeal, as did Lisa Murkowski and, famously, John McCain. McCain got all the press, but the other two votes had the same weight.
And yeah, this is maybe a bit nitpicky. However, it was a really important vote.
Politicians have 2 Options:
Be Loyal to Trump and risked being voted out in 2026 or 2028.
OR
Speak against Trump and risk being investigated by Trump and have TRUMPed up charges brought against you.
Gas prices went up 14 cents yesterday in my tri-county area.
I can’t wait for the full blunt force for all the tariffs and the removal of Immigrants and the shutting down of government agencies to be felt.
The Gods of Chaos will be celebrating.