WASHINGTON – Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, fired on Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer after he clearly said it was a “big mistake” to shrink the 2009 economic stimulus package to win his vote.
“I found Leader Schumer’s comments bizarre,” Collins told NBC News on Wednesday, noting that she was one of three Republicans to support then President Barack Obama’s $ 787 billion package to mitigate the pain of the financial crisis.
“He voted for the same package as me,” said Collins. “So for Chuck Schumer, who was intimately involved in the negotiations as the assistant leader, to somehow criticize me for taking the same stance as he did, it is just bizarre. And I think it regrettably reflects his inability to accept the fact that despite pouring $ 100 million to defeat me, the people of Maine said no. “
His remarks came after Schumer, a Democrat from New York, was asked Tuesday night on CNN whether he could have done more to win Republican votes like Collins on the president’s $ 1.9 trillion Covid-19 aid project. Joe Biden who passed the Senate by a party line vote.
“No,” replied Schumer. “We made a big mistake in 2009 and ’10. Susan Collins was part of that mistake. We cut the stimulus drastically and stayed in a recession for five years. What was offered by the Republicans was far from what was needed, so far from what Biden proposed who thought they weren’t serious and really wanted to negotiate. “
The recession officially ended in June 2009, but economists widely agree that it was a slow recovery.
The exchange between the two legislators captures the difficulty that Democrats will have in passing contentious legislation due to the 60-vote rule. Democrats have 50 members, and Collins is known as one of the most moderate Republicans in the Senate, with a history of opposing his party at times.
Collins predicted on the day of the inauguration that she would have “a very difficult relationship” with Schumer.
She is part of a small group of Republicans who met with the White House weeks ago to launch a $ 618 billion aid project for Covid-19. Biden chose to use a special budget process that can bypass the 60-vote limit for his larger package. It will not be available for most other accounts.
Asked if she will continue to work with the Biden government, Collins said: “I look forward to continuing to work with this government and I just hope that Senator Schumer will not continue to be an obstacle to bipartisanship.
