Susan Collins has done it again. The Maine Senator, who never misses an opportunity to remind Republicans why they cannot trust the establishment wing of their own party, has announced she will vote against President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Justice.
Todd Blanche, Trump’s pick for Attorney General, now faces an uphill battle for confirmation thanks to Collins’ opposition. In a statement that could have been written by Chuck Schumer himself, Collins cited concerns about Blanche’s qualifications and his previous role as Trump’s personal attorney. The same tired arguments we hear every time the establishment wants to sabotage a conservative nominee.
Here is the reality that Collins and her allies in the corporate media refuse to acknowledge. The American people elected Donald Trump to clean house. They elected him to drain the swamp. They elected him to put people in positions of power who will actually enforce the law rather than weaponize it against political enemies. Todd Blanche represents exactly that kind of change.
Collins likes to style herself as a moderate, a voice of reason in an increasingly polarized Washington. But there is nothing moderate about blocking the President’s ability to staff his own administration. There is nothing reasonable about giving Democrats a veto over Republican governance. What Collins is doing is not independence—it is sabotage dressed up in pearl-clutching press releases.
The left has spent years turning the Department of Justice into a political weapon. They raided Mar-a-Lago. They indicted Trump on flimsy charges in multiple jurisdictions. They targeted pro-life activists and concerned parents while ignoring actual crimes committed by their political allies. And now, when Trump tries to install someone who might actually restore impartiality to the department, Collins balks?
President Trump won Maine’s Second Congressional District. He won the presidency. He has a mandate to reshape the federal government, including the DOJ. Collins may have forgotten who she works for, but the voters have not. When she is up for re-election, they will remember this vote. They will remember that when it mattered most, she sided with the resistance rather than the President her own party elected.
Blanche’s confirmation is not dead yet. But Collins has made it harder. And for what? A few glowing profiles in the Washington Post? Some attaboys from the Morning Joe panel? The establishment rewards its loyal soldiers well, even as the base watches in disgust.
Republicans have a choice. They can continue tolerating members who undermine the agenda voters sent them to enact, or they can start acting like a party that actually wants to win. Susan Collins has made her choice clear. The question is whether the rest of the caucus will let her get away with it.
Providence watches over the bold.
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