"Defiant," my ass. This is empty posturing.
We heard all this crap from other "concerned" dems in both the Senate and House during the Obamacare debacle. Evidently, Heitkamp hasn't yet been visited by Reid's goons who will dangle a package of lucrative pork projects, laced with a dose of not-so-veiled threats of isolation if she doesn't get on the bus.
Unless there are enough votes to pass a ban, thereby allowing her a token "no" vote, she'll be casting an "aye" vote as directed.
I don't think so because these "moderate" rats in the Senate understand political reality. Obamacare and Dodd-Frank were two bad laws too far. Even though they had 60 nominal rats in the Senate at the time, they refused to touch "card check" to expand union membership, "Cap & Trade" for "climate change" even though the House already passed their version of it and "comprehensive immigration reform" during Obama's first two years, much less think about renewing a so called "assault weapons" ban in the House where over 60 rat members wrote Holder to pound sand in early 2009. Hence, Fast and Furious was hatched.
They are politicians first and foremost. Chuck U Schumer recruited pro Second Amendment rats for the Senate starting in 2006. Believe it or not.