CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you this. The Senate adjourned at 11:00 a.m. on Friday. You’re not here in town. You’re not alone. The -- all of Congress is adjourned for the weekend. You guys don’t reconvene until Tuesday. Where’s the urgency?

SEN. COLLINS: Well, Chuck, just as I can talk to you from Bangor, Maine, I also have been talking to my colleagues. I have conversations --

CHUCK TODD: No, and I don’t mean it about you. I’m talking about in general. Where is the urgency here in Washington in Congress? It just seems sort of blasé.

SEN. COLLINS: Well, I certainly feel a sense of urgency to get people back to work and government reopened. And I think many of my colleagues do. I think that we, we need to make this our first priority.

CHUCK TODD: Do you think Mitch McConnell has done enough? He has made the decision -- he has said this is between the Democrats and the president. . . . .

SEN. COLLINS: Well, I can’t speak for Senator McConnell, but I would like to see him bring the House-passed bills to the Senate floor. We could reopen much of government where there’s no dispute over issues involving certain departments like Ag, Transportation, Housing, and Interior. Let’s get those reopened while the negotiations continue. . . .

CHUCK TODD: Right. Let me ask you this. We’re now in our third shutdown since President Trump took office. It seems like there’s chaos when policy decisions get announced. Think Syria is the most recent example. When is enough enough for you? You’ve expressed displeasure in the past, but is it accumulating for you to the point where you’re running out of patience?

SEN. COLLINS: Government shutdowns are never good policy. And we’ve had them in the Obama administration. We’ve had them in President Trump’s administration. They -- we should always get the appropriations bills signed into law before the start of the fiscal year so that neither side can use the threat of a shutdown or the reality of a shutdown as a political weapon.

CHUCK TODD: Okay. But I guess -- what is your level of satisfaction with how the president is conducting himself in office? That’s where I’m getting -- are you losing patience with his conduct?

SEN. COLLINS: Well, I’m frustrated in this situation that we’ve gotten to this point where both sides appear to be intransigent. It is not a sign of weakness to try to figure out a middle ground. And I think that both sides need to indicate a willingness to listen and to compromise.