As the controversy over Elon Musk’s influence in the Trump administration intensified last week, Sen. Susan Collins took a familiar step: The Maine Republican expressed concern.

Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, told reporters on Capitol Hill that Donald Trump “appears to have empowered Elon Musk to go far beyond what I think is appropriate.”

Given how little pushback the White House has received among GOP lawmakers, Collins’ comments were a welcome change of pace, though they were also underwhelming. The senator didn’t say she was prepared to do anything specific about her concerns, except vowing to talk to her fellow Appropriations Committee members “about our next steps.”

Time will tell. In the meantime, the Maine Republican now has new concerns, this time over Team Trump cutting National Institutes of Health grants that support research institutions and universities. Politico reported:

Susan Collins, the Republican chair of the Senate committee in charge of all government funding, said Monday the Trump administration’s decision to cut $4 billion in health research grant money violated the appropriations law Congress passed last March.

In fact, Collins’ written statement raised a few eyebrows for a variety of reasons. The Maine Republican, for example, called the administration’s policy a “poorly conceived directive.” She added that the NIH cuts “would be devastating, stopping vital biomedical research,” even as the White House claimed that their policy wouldn’t affect biomedical research at all.

Collins went on to note that the current federal law financing government operations “includes language that prohibits the use of funds to modify NIH indirect costs,” suggesting that, as far as she’s concerned, the administration’s policy isn’t legal.

In the abstract, if the senator were truly bothered by what she characterized as a misguided and legally dubious scheme, she could pursue a variety of options. Collins, as the chair of a powerful Senate committee that oversees federal spending, could schedule immediate hearings. She could start issuing subpoenas. She could introduce legislation. She could let GOP leaders and the White House know that if they expect her support — on, among other things, key confirmation votes — the administration will need to quickly change course on the course of the NIH’s future.

At least for now, however, the senator hasn’t indicated a public willingness to take any of these steps. Rather, Collins added in her statement that she called Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., who said he’d look into this after he’s confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

That, evidently, was sufficient: Collins announced soon after that she intends to support RFK Jr.’s confirmation, overlooking the laundry list of reasons the unqualified conspiracy theorist has no business joining a White House Cabinet.

Or put another way, Collins, after nearly three decades in the Senate, has considerable leverage. She doesn’t appear overly eager to use it, at least not yet.

To be sure, the NIH cuts have been paused, not because of the Maine Republican, but because 22 state attorneys general filed a lawsuit, and a federal judge temporarily halted the Trump administration’s radical plan. The legal dispute, however, is ongoing.

In the meantime, the chair of Senate Appropriations Committee has significant influence over this matter, which she hasn’t yet used.