In an interview on WGAN’s Inside Maine on Saturday, September 21 Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) expressed deep frustration with the partisan gridlock in Congress that is jeopardizing the federal government’s funding. As the vice chair of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, Collins detailed the committee’s bipartisan efforts to pass all 12 annual appropriations bills.

However, she lamented that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has refused to bring these bills to the Senate floor for a vote. “It is so frustrating when I’ve been meeting with the combat commanders who are responsible for various parts of the world, and each of them have told me this is the most dangerous time for our national security and for global security in 50 years,” Collins said. “Some go back further and say it’s the most dangerous time since right before World War Two, and yet the administration’s budget would give us the smallest Air Force in history.”

With the current fiscal year set to end on September 30th, Collins is now negotiating a temporary funding measure to prevent a government shutdown. However, she expressed concern that Schumer may be “secretly hoping for a government shutdown” in order to blame Republicans. “It would cause horrible chaos to everything from travel, air traffic controllers not being able to work, our defense being forced to military being forced to work without pay,” Collins warned. “It is a terrible option.” The senator urged her colleagues to put aside partisan politics and fulfill Congress’ constitutional duty to fund the government. As she stated, “It isn’t the ultimate failure to govern and it would cause horrible chaos.”

To listen to the interview, Click Here