Susan Collins says she does not regret confirming Brett Kavanaugh, but is “disappointed” by his 2022 abortion ruling

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she does not regret her 2018 vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, but she described being disappointed that Kavanaugh joined the conservative majority that issued a landmark ruling in 2022 overturning the constitutional right to abortion. Collins made the remarks in a televised interview with News Center Maine, where she addressed both her earlier confirmation decision and the later impact of the Court’s abortion decision.

Collins, who has previously spoken about her approach to Senate confirmation votes, said that while she stands by her decision to support Kavanaugh’s confirmation in 2018, her assessment of the 2022 abortion outcome differed. She characterized her reaction to the Court’s ruling as disappointment, even as she said she did not regret her earlier vote.

The 2022 Supreme Court ruling was the centerpiece of Collins’s criticism. In her comments, she tied her disappointment to the Court’s decision to remove what had been recognized as a constitutional protection for abortion, a change that then left abortion policy to states. The interview framed her view as an objection to the result, not to the fact of her earlier confirmation vote.

Collins’s remarks come as abortion-related litigation and state policy changes continue to follow the 2022 decision, including executive actions and court disputes over how states implement their abortion laws. With the constitutional right removed, federal and state legal systems have continued to address challenges involving access restrictions, enforcement authority, and the scope of state regulations affecting providers and patients.

The senator’s comments also touch on a long-running confirmation question in Congress, namely how senators evaluate a justice’s record and potential effects after confirmation. Collins’s distinction between “not regret” for the vote and “disappointed” for the later ruling reflects an approach that separates the confirmation process from subsequent jurisprudence.

During the 2018 confirmation process, Collins was one of the Senate Republicans associated with urging scrutiny of a nominee’s views and record. In the interview, she reiterated that her 2018 decision remains the same, even though the 2022 abortion decision produced an outcome she said she found disappointing.

Collins’s statements were reported by The Hill on June 17, 2026, based on the televised interview. No additional official Senate action or vote was announced in connection with the remarks, and the interview did not describe any specific legislative steps she would take following her reaction to the 2022 decision.

The practical effect of Collins’s comments centers on public expectations for how members of Congress evaluate Supreme Court outcomes. In an environment where abortion policy now varies by state and continues to generate litigation, lawmakers’ views about individual justices and case results can influence oversight discussions and related policy debates, even when the original confirmation vote has already occurred.