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Sen. Susan Collins said Wednesday that she was upset a Senate Aging Committee hearing had been blocked after Senate Democrats invoked a rule to prevent committee hearings from being held until more details emerged on the possibility of getting an independent review of Russian interference in the U.S. elections.

"We have witnesses who have come here from four different states," the Maine Republican said. "How does that contribute to solving anything that has to do with Jim Comey's firing? I mean, it's just ridiculous."

Collins spoke on the Senate floor about her frustrations that the hearing, which was set to examine aging, had been canceled.

Meanwhile, Senate Democrats held their own hearing on the House measure to replace Obamacare in the Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Committee.

President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey Tuesday evening, citing his handling of the investigation involving the emails of Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent in the race for the White House.

In a statement released Tuesday, Collins refuted suggestions that Trump's decision to fire Comey was based on the investigation into the president's collusion with Russia during the election.

"Any suggestion that today's announcement is somehow an effort to stop the FBI's investigation of Russia's attempt to influence the election last fall is misplaced," she said. "The president did not fire the entire FBI; he fired the director. I have every confidence that the FBI will continue to pursue its investigation. In addition, I am certain that the Senate Intelligence Committee, on which I serve, will continue its own bipartisan investigation and will follow the evidence wherever it leads."

Collins also commented on the efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. She has introduced her own bill with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., which would allow states to decide whether they want to keep Obamacare or work to craft their own plans. Collins expressed concerns she had about the House's healthcare bill passed last week.

"There are a lot of concerns about the impact of the health bill passed by the House, whether it's the impact on premiums for people aged 50 to 64 or the Medicaid expansion that 31 states have embraced, or how the high-risk pool would work," she said.

Collins held a presentation Tuesday on a high-risk pool model that was tried in Maine, but she said that the funding would need to total $15 billion in the first year to be effective.

"That is not in the House bill," she said. "There's actually $3 billion specifically designated for high-risk pools in the first year. You could take some money from the patient stabilization fund, but that money has a lot of claims on it for other uses."

Asked whether Comey's firing would result in a distraction from a focus on healthcare, Collins replied: "I think it already has."

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Collins expresses frustration over Democrats halting Senate business - Washington Examiner