Maine Sen. Susan Collins says nothing was accomplished by the recent partial government shutdown. Collins appeared Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation" and reiterated her stated view that shutdowns are never a solution. Collins said she expects that efforts to create physical barriers along the U.S. southern border will continue but not to the extent President Trump has requested.
"It’s going to be a combination of physical barriers, technology, more border patrol agents, more immigration judges, more sensors,” she said. “It's got to be an 'all of the above' approach."
Congress and the president have agreed to fund the federal government until Feb. 15, as they continue trying to resolve the border security issue.
Collins said the best agreement would be a compromise that funds the federal government through the end of the fiscal year.
Collins was also asked about the recent indictment of long-term Trump advisor Robert Stone. Collins said no conclusions should be reached before the investigations ends, but she said the charges of lying to Congress should be taken seriously.
“There is a disturbing pattern of lying to Congress that we're seeing in these indictments, and no one should be allowed to do that with impunity,” she said. “So I'm very pleased that the special counsel is pursuing indictments where he believes individuals have lied to Congress.”
Roger Stone was indicted Thursday and arrested Friday. The indictment alleges Stone sought information from WikiLeaks while coordinating with Trump campaign officials.
Originally published Jan. 28, 2019 at 7:14 a.m. ET.