title:  GOP Senator ‘More Convinced Than Ever’ Hearings Are Needed After Meeting Obama’s SCOTUS Nominee
text: The Republican Party s  unity  of obstructionism may be crumbling down fast as GOP Senators line up to meet with President Obama s SCOTUS nominee Merrick Garland. Although fourteen Republicans have agreed to meet with the overly-qualified nominee, they have all pledged they will do so only out of courtesy   and not to consider him.However, as usual, there appears to be only one grown-up in the room, and that would be Senator Susan Collins, the moderate from Maine.Collins, who has served Maine for nearly 20 years and has often crossed party lines, sat down with Garland earlier this week to go over Constitutional, issue based questions.And what happened after she met with Garland? Well, for starters, she really seems to like him, telling reporters at the Captiol: He has a humility about him. He has clearly thought very deeply about the issues confronting the courts, there was not any question he could not handle and he has a long record of accomplishment. She also referred tom garland as  thorough  and  impressive,  saying his answers to her questions raised no red flags and were pretty down the middle as expected.But the most telling of all is how the meeting left the Senator. Breaking from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, Collins states,  The meeting left me more convinced than ever that the process should proceed,  meaning hearings should be scheduled and the nominee should have his up or down vote. The next step, in my view, should be public hearings before the Judiciary Committee so that the issues that we explored in my office can be publicly aired. Although Collins is convinced, she expressed doubts that her actions would influence other Senators who have remained shockingly loyal to Grassley and McConnell. Just last week Collins said she was utterly  perplexed  at the amount of pettiness exhibited by the Senate GOP.Surprisingly, Collins has received very little blow back from her own base. That s what happens when politicians actually do what the people want. Currently, 52 percent of Americans support holding a hearing for Garland, including 55 percent of Republicans. Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty