Susan Collins’ vote for abortion foe does not add up | Steve Collins
Maine Senator Susan Collins Backs Trump‑Appointed Judicial Nominee in Ohio Confirmation Vote
In a decisive moment for the upper chamber, the United States Senate voted on Monday to end debate on President Trump’s nomination of Matthew Byrne to a lifetime seat on the federal bench in southern Ohio. The vote cleared the way for the nominee to receive a final confirmation, a step that required a simple majority and, ultimately, the support of one additional Republican senator.
The confirmation process had been uncertain after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who had been absent from the chamber for several months due to health issues, returned to cast his ballot. Even with McConnell’s participation, the Republican caucus fell one vote short of the threshold needed to close debate. That missing vote came from Maine’s Susan Collins, whose “yes” tipped the balance and allowed the nomination to proceed.
Collins, who has long positioned herself as a moderate Republican willing to put her state’s interests first, explained her reasoning in remarks to the press earlier in June. She said she evaluates judicial nominees on “their qualifications, their integrity, their background and their experience in reaching a decision.” She also noted that she had no regrets about her earlier vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh, whose later decisions contributed to the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.
The nominee, Byrne, is a Cincinnati attorney whose public record includes active participation in the Cincinnati Right to Life organization and the Center for Christian Virtue. Six years ago, he told a Senate committee that he opposed abortion except when the life of the mother was at stake, and he added that the definition of “life of the mother” should be narrowly drawn to prevent loopholes. Those statements underscore his anti‑abortion stance, a position that aligns with the broader ideological profile of the Trump administration’s judicial picks.
Maine’s other senator, independent Angus King, voted against the nomination, joining a coalition of dissenting senators who have voiced concerns about the nominee’s alignment with former President Trump’s agenda. King’s opposition reflected a belief that the judicial nomination process should prioritize independence from partisan pressures.
During the confirmation hearing, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal directly challenged Byrne, noting that the nominee had refused to affirm that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Blumenthal warned that a judge who would serve as “a lap dog to Donald Trump” could not be trusted to uphold the judiciary’s independence. “If you’re going to be a lap dog to Donald Trump … we can’t approve you as a judge,” Blumenthal said, adding that the Senate’s responsibility is to ensure a federal judiciary that is “independent, above politics, and independent of Donald Trump and his fixation on the 2020 election.”
The episode underscores a broader trend in the Senate, where deference to the president’s nominees has become routine, even when those nominees bring controversial policy positions to the bench. Collins’ vote, while consistent with her stated criteria of evaluating qualifications and experience, has drawn criticism from constituents and political opponents who argue that her support for an anti‑abortion activist undermines her claim of being “independent‑minded.”
The confirmation now moves to a final vote, where Byrne is expected to receive the necessary majority given the current composition of the Senate. If approved, he will assume the judicial role in Ohio, joining a federal bench that will interpret laws affecting millions of Americans, including issues of reproductive rights and election integrity that have become central to the nation’s political discourse.
