Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins, potentially a key swing vote for Brett Kavanaugh's lifetime confirmation to the Supreme Court, is joining millions of other Americans watching Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
According to her spokesperson, Collins is viewing the hearing from what's known as a “congressional hideaway” in the Capitol building. The hideaways are private offices tucked into nooks of the building and are assigned by seniority. Collins is the 13th most senior member of the U.S. Senate.
Collins says she is still undecided over Kavanaugh, but she has has been the target of a withering pressure campaign from liberal groups to oppose his nomination. According to data from Kantar media, groups opposing Kavanaugh's confirmation have spent over $7.4 million in televion ads compared to $837,500 in ads supporting him.
Collins was among a handful of Republicans who called for Ford and Kavanaugh to testify under oath during Thursday's hearings. The senator has said little about new allegations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh that have surfaced since Ford came forward with her story, but some reports have said that she's unnerved by the allegations, and has questioned why the Judiciary Committee did not request testimony from Mark Judge, the man Ford says was present at the time of the assault by Kavanaugh when all three people were in high school during the 80s.
Collins is not expected to comment on the hearing until after it's completed.
This post will be updated.
