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A U.S. senator was caught Tuesday on a 'hot mic,' telling a colleague that a congressman who had challenged her to a duel over her health care positions is 'fat' and 'unattractive.' Maine Sen. Susan Collins was one of three Republican women in the upper chamber of Congress last week who held up a GOP-led package that would have repealed and replaced the Obamacare law. Rep. Blake Farenthold, a fellow Republican from Texas, told a radio host that if she were 'a guy from south Texas, I might ask him to step outside and settle this Aaron Burr-style.' At the...

The Senate on Tuesday voted to begin debate on ObamaCare repeal legislation, a major step toward the goal of ending the healthcare law. The motion was approved in a razor-thin 50-50 vote, with Vice President Pence breaking the tie. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) received thunderous applause as he entered the chamber for the first time since being diagnosed with brain cancer to cast the 49th vote. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) then cast the 50th vote for the bill.

On Sunday, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said President Trump should turn over tapes of conversations he had with former FBI director James B. Comey — if they exist. “He should voluntarily turn them over not only to the Senate Intelligence Committee, but to the special counsel,” Collins told Brianna Keilar on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I don’t understand why the president just doesn’t clear this matter up once and for all,” she added.

Methane Mavericks! John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Susan Collins are liberals. You understand that, right? They are not moderates. They’re liberals. But wait! You want to defend McCain because he was a prisoner of war and he put Sarah Palin on the map. Stop. Just stop. He may vote with his Republican colleagues on occasion when it’s politically easy for him to do so, but when it comes to the big questions, McCain is a liberal. That’s why he refuses to support eliminating the filibuster on legislation, because it would take away Chuck Schumer’s ability to stop the Republican agenda.

Three Republicans joined Senate Democrats on Wednesday to reject an effort to overturn an Obama administration rule limiting methane emissions from oil and natural gas drilling. Only 49 senators voted to move forward with debate on legislation to undo the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rule, short of the 51 votes needed.   Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Susan Collins (Maine) and John McCain (Ariz.) joined all 48 members of the Democratic caucus in rejecting the resolution under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). 

WASHINGTON—Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) signaled she might vote for the constitutional option to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, which would make her the second member of the Gang of 14 to do so, and move Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) one vote closer to the 50 that he needs to make it happen. Last week Collins said Gorsuch was “unquestionably qualified” for the Supreme Court, and that by trying to filibuster President Trump’s chosen successor to Antonin Scalia, Senate Democrats were “playing politics with judicial nominees,” damaging the Senate as an institution and in the eyes...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it possesses a “limited amount” of 9mm bullets for agents in the field as well as for training purposes, and it is rationing its ammunition based on internal requests until it can award a new contract. [ ] The apparent role poor planning, or another agenda, played in the issue came to light when ICE said it would have run out of 9mm ammo by June 2017 in the absence of a modified contract with its supplier, Vista Outdoor Inc. So, the agency last month approved a $363,307 ceiling increase to contract No. HSCEMS-11-D-00002....

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said on Wednesday she’s open to using a subpoena to investigate President Donald Trump’s tax returns for potential connections to Russia. Collins, a Republican who has served as a U.S. senator from Maine since 1997, sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. She appeared on Maine Public Radio to talk about issues including the investigation. Collins was asked if the committee would subpoena Trump, who’s also a Republican. She said she hopes for “voluntary cooperation” but is open to using a subpoena if necessary. …

Short & Sweet: Senators, Lisa Murkowski & Susan Collins had better cast their votes, today, in the "AFFIRMATIVE" in support of Ms. Devos to become Trumps, Education Secretary!!! Fact: The left-wing, liberal, Democrat "Teacher Unions" have destroyed the effectiveness of the "Public School" system in the USA!!! These two nutcases, best be brought into line by Mitch McConnell...today!!!

An experienced healthcare policy researcher observes that the Obamacare “replacement” plan put forward by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) not only would allow for taxpayer funding of abortion, but would actually expand its funding over that provided in the original Obamacare law. Writing at The Federalist, Christopher Jacobs, founder and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Juniper Research Group, says the Patient Freedom Act (PFA) sends a “strikingly different message” from that demonstrated in House Republicans’ recent approval of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017.

Two Republican senators — Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — said Tuesday they are not yet committed to voting for Michigan billionaire Betsy DeVos for U.S. education secretary on the Senate floor. It was the first time that any Republican senators said they might not vote for President Trump’s nominee, the most polarizing education secretary nominee in the department’s history.

Sen. Susan Collins support of President-elect Donald Trump's attorney general pick, Sen. Jeff Sessions, drew protests at her Maine offices on Tuesday.

Unless he encounters substantial opposition, that is. Mr. Trump may have both houses of Congress under GOP control, but it’s a narrow 52-to-48 majority in the Senate -- meaning even just a few rogue GOPers could keep Trump-led legislation from passing. . . . Here are some of the people in the Republican Party who could throw a wrench in Mr. Trump’s plans: Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona)

“ He’s having fun with it,” said the aide, who recalled how much the House “Trump caucus” has grown from five or six members when Collins first launched it to another meeting this week where 50 members appeared who had never been there before. (Snip) A few Democrats have also slipped Collins their resumes as well. “I think there are a handful of Democrats that are interested in working in the administration. As we’ve seen Donald Trump is being very strategic with whom those Democrats are. They’re senators in very Republican states...”

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine has become the second and most-senior Republican senator to say she will not vote for GOP nominee Donald Trump for president. In an op-ed published online Monday night in The Washington Post, Ms. Collins said it was “not a decision I make lightly, for I am a lifelong Republican.” The column outlined a series of common criticisms of Mr. Trump’s conduct and temperament — mocking a reporter with disabilities, feuding wioth a Muslim Gold Star family, suggesting a Mexican-American judge might not be impartial.

Eight Senate Republicans joined with 44 Democrats on a Republican-proposed compromise that would deny people on two different federal watch lists the ability to buy weapons unless they could successfully appeal that decision. Several other Republican senators showed some willingness to accept new restrictions on gun purchases if they could be structured in an acceptable way. A bipartisan companion measure also was introduced in the House.

Greg Nash Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday cut the legs out from a bipartisan effort to keep suspected terrorists from buying guns. In doing so, McConnell, a master of the Senate’s arcane rules, provided cover for vulnerable Republicans who wanted to be seen as supporting the effort, but did not want to cross the National Rifle Association. “The scenario that Sen. McConnell set up was textbook McConnell,” said Brian Darling, a former Senate Republican aide. McConnell had promised a vote this week to Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on her bipartisan measure barring people on two key...

Rep. Collins (R-NY) discusses yesterday's meeting between Donald Trump and GOP lawmakers.

The navy is planning to keep all six of its Collins-class submarines in operation until enough new boats are ready to replace them, well into the 2030s. Close to $2 billion has been allocated for upgrade work. Two of the older Collins boats will require overhauls to extend their lives and the others will be modernised progressively to ensure they can match other submarines in the region. Australian Defence Force chief Mark Binskin told The Australian extra time was needed because the process of selecting, designing and building the new submarines could not be rushed and to ensure that Australia...

Hard-working UMaine senior named McDonald's 'Crew Person of the Year' By Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff Feb. 15, 2016, at 5:47 p.m. OLD TOWN, Maine - It's not easy to surprise Lee Jackson. The local McDonald's employee, who also is a University of Maine senior and Old Town school board member, arrived at work early Monday only to find several dignitaries and relatives waiting at the restaurant to take part in a ceremony in which he would be named a national Crew Person of the Year. "You were early. That doesn't surprise me," U.S. Sen. Susan Collins told Jackson, as he...