Sen. Susan Collins Reveals She Has Longstanding Benign Essential Tremor

She issued a statement to The Associated Press the following day confirming she has had the tremor for the entirety of her nearly three-decade Senate career. Collins was first elected to the Senate in 1996. "The tremor is occasionally inconvenient, and sometimes the subject of cruel comments online, but it does not hinder my ability to work and, as I said, is something that I have lived with for decades," Collins said in the statement.

Collins maintains a streak of never missing a Senate vote that stands at 9,966, the second-longest consecutive voting streak in the Senate’s history. As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee she continues to lead floor debates on spending measures and regularly engages with reporters in the hallways.

The disclosure comes as Collins seeks reelection in one of this year’s toughest Senate races.

Her likely opponent is Democrat Graham Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer and combat veteran. Democratic Gov. S.

Department of Veterans Affairs stemming from chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder after his military service. "There are a lot of disabled combat veterans, or just disabled vets, at 100%, who still work," Platner told WCSH last year. " In a separate development on Thursday, GOP Rep.

U.S. military campaign against Iran. Sen.

John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat not up for reelection until 2028, published an op-ed in the Washington Post on Thursday dismissing speculation that he might switch parties. Fetterman became the first Democratic senator to join Trump’s Truth Social platform in 2024. "My values have not changed, and I have always turned to those kinds of ideals that defined being a Democrat.

I remain strongly pro-choice, pro-weed, pro-LGBT, pro-SNAP, pro-labor and even pro-rib-eye over bio slop," Fetterman wrote. He added that he would be a "terrible Republican" and has "no plans to leave" the Democratic Party. President Donald Trump is 79 years old.

Collins first confirmed her tremor to local television one day before issuing her formal statement to the AP.