A certain U.S. senator from Maine seems worried about losing her re-election campaign.
Even if Donald Trump has launched a war of choice with Iran on not bothering to consult with Democrats, Sen. Susan Collins thinks the vote on providing $200 billion for the war effort should be bipartisan.
PoliticusUSA news and opinions are 100% independent. Support us by becoming a subscriber.
Semafor reported:
The Trump administration will soon seek funding for the war in Iran, and some Republicans don’t want to use the party-line budget reconciliation process to get it done. “It would not be my preference. I understand the need to pass this, but it seems to me that it would be better to go through the appropriations process,” Senate Appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, told Semafor.
Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., agreed, but predicted that Democrats would not follow: “Unfortunately, it will probably have to be a party-line reconciliation initiative.” » Republicans are still digesting the $200 billion figure presented by the Pentagon to the White House, and Collins wonders whether the intelligence community, agricultural aid and Pell Grant funding will be included in the package. “The administration will have to make its case. Obviously, there will have to be additional spending,” said Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo.
That means Republicans see Trump’s war as a loser among voters in the midterm elections, and they don’t want to be seen as financing it themselves. They want to implicate Democrats in this and spread the blame.
The bipartisanship that Collins now seeks to fund a war that the vast majority of the country and Democrats oppose was barely uncovered when Democrats were trying to stop health insurance premiums from rising for more than 20 million Americans.
Here are the votes cast by Senator Collins: