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Sen. Susan Collins is barreling toward yet another health care showdown with her own party. But this time, she might not have the leverage to get what she wants. Republicans who watched Collins lead the rebellion over the GOP’s Obamacare repeal effort just three months ago are playing tough on yet another high-stakes bill, wagering they can do without the Maine moderate’s swing vote and still claim a narrow year-end legislative win on tax reform. (Cancryn, 12/8)

In an interview, [Susan] Collins said she is puzzled by the strength of the outcry against her vote — though as a centrist she’s used to attracting arrows from both the left and the right. ... She pointed to hard-won promises she extracted from Republican leaders to pass separate legislation that aims to strengthen the health care law’s individual health insurance marketplaces and mitigate premium increases that will result from abandoning the individual mandate. (McGrane, 12/8)

The three biggest stories in Washington -- a broad overhaul of the U.S. tax structure, a health-care makeover and a spending bill that would avert a government shutdown -- all depend, more or less, on one moderate Republican senator who says she’s got a deal that could deliver them all. The only trouble is, Senator Susan Collins’s deal could unravel fast, putting the Maine lawmaker and her party in a tight spot as GOP leaders seek a major policy win in 2017. (Kapur, 12/8)