Under normal circumstances, Senator Susan Collins would now be one of the most powerful figures in official Washington.
In January, the Maine Republican became the chair of the Senate appropriations committee, long considered one of the most consequential panels in the upper chamber. Nicknamed the “college of cardinals” for its outsized power over federal spending, it can approve funds for favored programs and slash it for others while blocking attempts by the White House to get in the way. One former chair of the committee used his power to get more than 30 federal projects named for himself in his home state. On its website, the committee boldly asserts its power, quoting from the constitution that “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of Appropriations made by law.”
