Sen. Susan Collins has passed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as the most unpopular member of the Senate.
Collins, a Republican from Maine, scored the highest disapproval rating in the most recent poll on senators’ favorability ratings from Morning Consult. The poll showed that 52% of Americans disapprove of Collins while 42% approve of her.
McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, had a slightly lower disapproval rating at 50% and a lower approval rating of 37%.
Pressure is mounting on Collins as the impeachment trial of President Trump begins. As a moderate Republican, Collins is facing pressure from both sides of the aisle to either back Trump or push for a more aggressive trial and, eventually, to possibly vote to remove the president from office.
McConnell has held the title of most unpopular senator in the past, as Democrats have painted him as the “Grim Reaper” of the Senate for allowing bills passed by the Democrat-controlled House to die in the upper chamber without seeing a vote.
Collins faced similar pressure in the fight to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. After weeks of sexual assault allegations against him and acrimonious committee hearings, Collins decided to vote in favor of Kavanaugh, which put him over the top.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts swore in each senator as a juror in Trump’s impeachment trial on Thursday. The trial is slated to begin next Tuesday, after weeks of stonewalling by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who had attempted to use the articles as leverage to dictate the rules of the Senate trial. Her strategy failed after McConnell threatened to torpedo the trial before it had a chance to begin.
The impeachment articles passed by the House in December charged Trump with obstructing Congress and abuse of power.
