At the end of a Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday morning, chairman Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, didn't switch off her microphone. Apparently speaking to Senator Jack Reed from Rhode Island, the ranking Democrat of the committee, Collins discussed the federal budget - and President Donald Trump's lack of familiarity with the details of governing.
After Reed praises Collins' handling of the hearing, she laments the Trump administration's handling of spending.
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US Senators caught on mic bemoaning Trump
Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Jack Reed agreed they thought US President Donald Trump was crazy.
"I swear, [the Office of Management and Budget] just went through and whenever there was 'grant,' they just X it out," Collins says. "With no measurement, no thinking about it, no metrics, no nothing. It's just incredibly irresponsible."
"Yes," Reed replies. "I think - I think he's crazy," apparently referring to the president. "I mean, I don't say that lightly and as a kind of a goofy guy."
"I'm worried," Collins replies.
"Oof," Reed continues. "You know, this thing - if we don't get a budget deal, we're going to be paralysed."
"I know," Collins replies.
"[Department of Defense] is going to be paralysed, everybody is going to be paralysed," Reed says.
"I don't think he knows there is a [Budget Control Act] or anything," Collins says, referring to a 2011 law that defines the budget process.
"He was down at the Ford commissioning," Reed says, referring to President Trump's weekend event launching a new aircraft carrier, "saying, 'I want them to pass my budget.' Okay, so we give him $US54 billion and then we take it away across the board which would cause chaos."
"Right," Collins replies.
"It's just - and he hasn't - not one word about the budget. Not one word about the debt ceiling," Reed says.
"Good point," Collins replies.
"You've got [Budget Director Mick] Mulvaney saying we're going to put in all sorts of stuff like a border wall. Then you've got [Treasury Secretary Steve] Mnuchin saying it's got to be clean," Reed continues. "We're going to be back in September, and, you know, you're going to have crazy people in the House."
In a more salacious part of what was recorded, Collins then addressed a radio interview in which Representative Blake Farenthold, a Republican from Texas, suggested that if Collins were a man, he'd have challenged her to a duel for opposing the Senate Republicans' Obamacare overhaul bill.
"Did you see the one who challenged me to a duel?" Collins asks.
"I know," Reed replies. "Trust me. Do you know why he challenged you to a duel? 'Cause you could beat the shit out of him."
"Well, he's huge," Collins replies. "And he - I don't mean to be unkind, but he's so unattractive it's unbelievable."
"Did you see the picture of him in his pyjamas next to this Playboy bunny?" she continues, referring to an infamous photo of Farenthold.
At that point, the mic went dead.
Correction: The pajama's Susan Collins mentioned that Blake Farenthold wore was for a Texas fundraiser in 2009. https://t.co/7Qho5kEoV7 pic.twitter.com/B7F6cdd8Xn
— Beatrice-Elizabeth (@MissBeaE) July 25, 2017
Washington Post