Susan Margaret Collins

On July 28, 2017, at approximately 1:30 AM, the Senate voted on the 'skinny repeal' of the ACA. The bill required 50 votes; the count was 49-51 after three Republican senators voted NO: John McCain, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins. Stakes that ACA-protection advocates foreground: Approximately 133 million Americans under age 65 have a pre-existing medical condition. Approximately 600,000 Mainers are estimated to have a pre-existing condition. Successful skinny repeal would have allowed insurers to vary premiums by health status. Stakes that ACA-skeptic advocates foreground: The ACA's individual market saw premium increases of approximately 105% from 2013 to 2017. The 'skinny repeal' would not have eliminated pre-existing protections directly — it removed the individual mandate, employer mandate, and a medical-device tax; critics argued protection stability depended on the mandate. Procedural-record context: The skinny repeal attempt of July 2017 was made possible by reconciliation instructions Collins voted to enable. On October 19, 2017, Collins voted YES on H.Con.Res.71 (FY2018 budget resolution), which included reconciliation instructions used for both the TCJA mandate-zero AND the skinny-repeal vehicle. The procedural YES enabled the substantive NO. Honest qualifier: Collins voted YES on the TCJA (December 2017), which zeroed the individual mandate penalty effective 2019. CBO's 2017 estimate projected approximately 13 million fewer insured Americans over 10 years and approximately 10% premium increases. The verdict KEPT reflects vote-record alignment with the stated promise on the specific pre-existing-conditions issue.

On September 27, 2018, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, who alleged that Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her in high school. Kavanaugh denied the allegation under oath. The committee voted 11-10 to advance the nomination conditional on a supplemental FBI investigation. The investigation ran October 1-5, 2018, with scope reportedly limited at the request of the White House — the investigation did not interview Ford or Kavanaugh directly and reportedly did not pursue tip-line leads. Collins publicly characterized the investigation as 'thorough.' On October 5, 2018, Collins delivered a 43-minute floor speech announcing her support for confirmation. Her central argument: Kavanaugh's record and testimony indicated he would respect precedent including Roe v. Wade. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization. The 5-4 majority opinion explicitly overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Kavanaugh joined the majority. Stakes that abortion-rights advocates foreground: Approximately 36 million American women of reproductive age now live in states with abortion restrictions enacted post-Dobbs. 14 states have near-total abortion bans. Approximately 171,000 women traveled out of state for abortions in the year following Dobbs. Stakes that pro-life advocates foreground: Approximately 50,000-100,000 fewer abortions per year post-Dobbs. For 49 years pro-life advocates argued that Roe was decided wrongly on constitutional grounds. The verdict BROKEN reflects that the explicit assurance Collins gave voters did not hold. Collins's own same-day statement acknowledges the prediction was contradicted.

Bipartisanship is Collins's most-cited career-defining attribute and the easiest verdict on her record. Concrete examples from her current term: Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework (June 2021) — Collins was one of 10 senators who negotiated the framework that became the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Respect for Marriage Act (November 2022) — Collins co-sponsored with Sen. Baldwin (D-WI). CHIPS and Science Act (July 2022) — Voted YES with 16 other Republicans. Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (June 2022) — Voted YES with 14 other Republicans. Stakes that bipartisan-process advocates foreground: Each of these bills had documented bipartisan negotiation that would not have occurred without senators like Collins crossing party lines. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework's $550 billion in new spending directed approximately $40 billion to rural broadband, $89 billion to public transit, $66 billion to passenger rail. Stakes that party-discipline advocates foreground: Collins's bipartisan votes have been criticized by both parties' bases. Her party-unity score with Republicans on procedural votes is high; her cross-party votes have been concentrated on final-passage of pre-negotiated compromises.

On February 5, 2020, the Senate acquitted President Trump on both articles of impeachment regarding the Ukraine matter. Collins voted NOT GUILTY on both articles, with Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) the lone Republican to vote GUILTY on Article I. The day before the vote, Collins gave an interview to CBS News: 'I believe that the president has learned from this case.' The statement framed her acquittal vote as resting partly on a prediction about subsequent presidential behavior. Subsequent administration behaviors that critics cited as contradicting the prediction included: removal of inspectors general at multiple federal agencies during 2020; firing of impeachment witnesses including LTC Alexander Vindman and Ambassador Gordon Sondland; continued public attacks on the impeachment process; and the January 6, 2021 attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, which resulted in 5 deaths and 140 officer injuries. Collins voted to convict in the second impeachment trial on February 13, 2021. The verdict BROKEN reflects predictive failure parallel to the Kavanaugh case. The verdict does not impugn Collins's good faith; her second-impeachment vote demonstrated she updated her judgment when subsequent evidence warranted.