U.S. Sen. Susan Collins pressed a top military official Wednesday on whether he anticipated Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a move that has led to skyrocketing fuel prices.
Collins and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky were the only two Republicans to recently join Democrats in a failed war powers resolution seeking to rein in President Donald Trump’s unpopular war in Iran, which has exceeded 70 days.
The Iran war is a major factor in the national political landscape facing Collins, whose run for a fifth term is among the biggest elections in the country this year. The five-term senator has also faced repeated criticism from likely Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner, who accuses her of helping advance a new “forever war” in the Middle East.
Questioning Gen. John Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a hearing on Capitol Hill, Collins cited a dramatic impact on oil supplies across the world, along with precedent during the Iran-Iraq war where tankers were fired upon in the strait.
“There’s been a different plan almost daily dealing with this problem,” she said.
Caine said he would not get into details related to the private advice he’d given the president.
“You should rest assured, as should the American people, that we cover and consider the full range of things in our careful consideration of military actions in the advice and options we provide our civilian leaders,” Caine said.
Collins did not question Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Iran. The secretary faced a barrage of criticism from Democrats who questioned the justification for the war. Hegseth maintained it was crucial Iran did not gain a nuclear weapon. Several Democrats agreed but said there was no imminent threat that required engagement.
Collins instead focused on Bath Iron Works, telling Hegseth she was “puzzled” and “alarmed” that the Pentagon’s roughly $1.7 trillion 2027 budget requested included just one of the Bath-built Navy destroyers. That’s down from two this fiscal year and three in 2025, the senator said.
“That reduction … creates uncertainty for the industrial base,” Collins said. “There needs to be a steady demand signal for DDG-1s in order to keep the yard operating at all phases, from cutting the initial steel to completing the ship.”
