US Senator Susan Collins, Republican from Maine, questions Secretary of Well being and Human Providers Robert F. Kennedy Jr., throughout a Senate Committee on Well being, Training, Labor, and Pensions listening to on the President’s proposed funds request for fiscal 12 months 2026 for the Division of Well being and Human Providers, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, Might 14, 2025.
Jim Watson | Afp | Getty Photos
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine on Thursday captured the rising sense of frustration amongst Republicans in Congress over President Donald Trump‘s plan to simply accept a $400 million jet from the royal household of Qatar to be transformed into Air Pressure One.
“The transaction strikes me as being rife with political espionage, moral and constitutional issues,” Collins stated In an interview with NBC Information.
“The aircraft must be totally scrubbed to make sure that listening gadgets had not been implanted. That will take quite a lot of time, to be sure that it meets the safety requirements that the president wants,” she added.
“In the end, I do not perceive why we’d pursue this for the brand new plane that the president wants.”
Collins stated that whereas she understands Trump’s “frustration” with Boeing taking a very long time to supply a brand new presidential aircraft, she doesn’t suppose a present jet is the appropriate resolution.
When requested if Congress ought to vote on the legality of the present, Collins stated she has not heard of any plans to take action.
FILE – A Boeing 747 with the colour scheme of planes utilized by the Qatari royal household is seen Friday, Might 2, 2025 at San Antonio Worldwide Airport in San Antonio, Texas.
Brandon Lingle | The San Antonio Categorical-Information | AP
Trump’s choice to simply accept the present has sparked fierce controversy over the legality, ethics and nationwide safety implications of what could be the biggest international present ever acquired by the U.S. authorities.
Trump has stated the aircraft shall be formally given to the U.S. Division of Protection, after which transferred to his presidential library basis on the finish of his second time period. This manner, the palatial jet isn’t owned personally by Trump.
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer introduced that he’s putting a hold on Trump’s nominees to the Division of Justice to protest the jet present, calling it a “grave nationwide safety menace.”
Earlier this week, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, Wisc., known as the present “a really odd provide.” One other Republican, Sen. Rand Paul, Ky., stated on Fox Information that he hopes the president will reject it.
Collins additionally questioned the timeline and necessity of Trump getting a brand new Air Pressure One which can not even be completed its retrofitting right into a presidential aircraft by the point his time period ends.
“That is difficult,” she added.