Sen. Collins doesn’t show how she’s leaning in Kavanaugh vote
PORTLAND, MAINE » The end of contentious confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has shifted the focus back to potential swing votes like Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
If Collins votes yes, then he is likely confirmed. She and Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska probably would have to both vote “no” for Kavanaugh to be blocked.
In keeping with her deliberative approach, Collins has kept mum about how she’ll vote. Still, she’s sent signals that Kavanaugh cleared a hurdle by telling her that Roe v. Wade establishing abortion rights is settled law. A spokeswoman for Collins said Saturday that a recently released email from Kavanaugh — in which he disputed that all legal scholars see Roe as settled — didn’t contradict what he told the senator because he wasn’t expressing his personal views.
Democrats say President Donald Trump picked Kavanaugh because he would vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision. Liberal groups are running TV ads encouraging the senator to reject the nomination.
People from across the country have mailed about 3,000 coat hangers to her office, symbolizing back-alley abortions that took place before they became legal.
And activists have pledged to spend hundreds of thousands to fund an opponent to Collins if she votes in favor of Kavanaugh. She is up for re-election in 2020.
Collins, a centrist who fought the GOP effort to junk the Affordable Care Act, is used to being in the hot seat.
“I always wait until after the hearings are complete before making a decision, and I’ll do so in this case as well,” she said in an interview.
It’s a similar story in Alaska. Murkowski, who also supports abortion rights, is reviewing Kavanaugh and won’t announce her vote before his nomination goes to the Senate floor.
Collins, for her part, is following the same process she used with GOP nominees John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch and Democratic nominees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.
“I have voted for Justice Sotomayor, and I’ve also voted for Justice Alito,” she said, referring to justices at the opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. “I respect the fact that one of my jobs is to determine whether or not the candidate is qualified for the court, has the requisite experience and has the judicial temperament, as well as respect for precedence.”
While she’s never voted against a Supreme Court nominee, Collins has vowed to reject a candidate who’s hostile to the Roe v. Wade ruling. She said Kavanaugh told her during their face-to-face meeting that he views the 1973 decision as established legal precedent.
But he said in a 2003 email while working for the first Bush administration that some legal scholars may view the idea of precedent differently and that the Supreme Court “can always overrule its precedent.” Kavanaugh said the comment did not reflect his personal views, but “what legal scholars might say.”