(CNN) A key Republican senator pushed back Wednesday on calls by Brett Kavanaugh's accuser to allow for an FBI investigation before a hearing next week, the latest indication that Republicans may be closing in on the votes to confirm President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee if Christine Blasey Ford declines to testify.

"I think it's not fair for Judge Kavanaugh for her not to come forward and testify," Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a crucial swing vote, told local radio station WVOM

The comments by Collins, who as one of the more moderate Republican senators is seen as a key vote on the nomination, are the latest sign that if Ford declines to testify, it could help Kavanaugh's chances at winning confirmation to the Supreme Court. Already, key Republicans like Sens. Bob Corker and Jeff Flake -- who had been on-the-fence after the new allegations of sexual misconduct from Kavanaugh's high school days in the 1980s -- are saying they're prepared to move ahead with the nomination if she won't testify before the committee.

Collins called on Ford to testify Monday, either in public (her preference) or in a private setting by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Asked about Ford's request to allow the FBI to investigate Ford's allegations first, Collins said that would "it seems to me, that this reverses the normal order of things."

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