Surely, moderate Republicans like Sen. Susan Collins—who is up for reelection next year in the reliably blue state of Maine—would consider Kennedy and Gabbard too treacherous to swallow? Nope. Collins voted to confirm both nominees,

Susan Collins could leverage her position to push back against NIH cuts she opposes. At least for now, the Republican senator is choosing not to.

Maine, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair, opposed what she called a "poorly conceived directive" for the National Institutes of Health to cut support for medical and public health research at universities nationwide,