Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) “remained the lone GOP holdout Thursday night in a push by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to line up all 41 Republican senators behind a letter opposing the Democratic Wall Street reform bill,” POLITICO reports.
The resistance from Collins slowed efforts by the Republican leadership to throw up a united front that would thwart a plan by Democrats to bring the financial regulatory bill to the floor as early as next week. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) needs support from at least one Republican to open debate on the bill.
“I am still talking with my colleagues about whether a letter is the most effective way to send the message, or whether there are better ways, and those discussions are still ongoing,” Collins told reporters at the Capitol. “I agree with my colleagues that the Dodd bill is deeply flawed. But, as a former financial regulator, I also feel strongly that the current system is very flawed. We need a financial regulatory bill, just not this one.”
Collins told POLITICO Thursday night that she “would like to see both sides come back together and work out a bipartisan bill because this should not be a partisan issue.”
(credit image – associated press)
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