If you had "Susan Collins breaks with Republicans" on your bingo card this week, congratulations on playing the single easiest game in American politics. The Maine senator once again wandered across the aisle, voting with Democrats on a procedural motion that would have sent the Senate's $70 billion budget reconciliation package back to committee, as Conservative Brief reported. At this point, Collins voting with her own party would be the surprise.
The motion was offered by Sen. Jon Ossoff of Georgia and sought to recommit the legislation to the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate allegations that insurance companies have been improperly denying medical treatment and coverage to patients. "Let's ban insurance companies from denying or delaying medically necessary healthcare to Americans," Ossoff said on the Senate floor, sharing the story of a constituent with multiple myeloma who struggled to get her insurance company to cover her care. "Across America, insurance companies continue to deny and delay medically necessary healthcare," Ossoff added.
Now, nobody loves insurance companies. They rank somewhere between stepping on a Lego and getting a root canal on the national enjoyment scale. But the motion's real effect, had it passed, would have torpedoed the entire reconciliation bill, which includes funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol through 2029. So this was less about saving grandma from her HMO and more about killing the bill with a hug. The motion failed 47 to 50, with Collins being the lone Republican to vote for it this time around.
Interestingly, back in April when Ossoff proposed a similar measure during the Senate budget resolution, Collins was joined by Sens. Dan Sullivan and Josh Hawley. Both of those Republicans apparently got the memo this time and voted against it, leaving Collins out there on her own like someone who showed up to a costume party and nobody else dressed up.
Meanwhile, the broader fight over the reconciliation package continues to rage. House Speaker Mike Johnson recently met with President Trump to discuss including the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections, in a budget reconciliation bill. "The big urgency is to get SAVE America passed. The president has that as a top priority, and so do I," Johnson said.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer had some choice words for Senate Republicans who are reluctant to support the measure. "Are you that weak? That's my question to any Republican senator. Are you that weak? To where if you vote for a valid ID to be shown to vote, you're gonna get beat in your home state?" Comer said on Fox News. "If you're that weak, you don't need to be a United States senator."
Comer also noted that Senate leadership keeps saying they lack the votes, adding, "Not only do they not have 60 votes, they don't have 50 votes, which I don't believe that."
So to recap: the House is daring the Senate to act, the Senate is pretending it can't count, and Susan Collins is doing what Susan Collins always does. Another productive week in Washington.
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