5 days ago
As Trump slashes federal spending, Collins' promise to deliver for Maine is tested
On May 27, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins visited with first responders in Clinton, Maine and reviewed plans for an upgraded facility built with the help of $2 million secured in Congressionally Directed Spending. (Photo via Sen. Susan Collins/ Facebook)
Editor's Note: This story is part of a series about U.S. Sen. Susan Collins' role during the second Trump presidency.
As Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins approaches three decades in Congress, the self-described moderate's balancing act has meant she's angered both the left and right. However, even Mainers otherwise critical of Collins commend her ability to secure federal funding for Maine.
'I think her big goal has been what it always has been and that's delivering economically for the state,' said Jim Melcher, a professor of political science at University of Maine Farmington. 'I think [that] really interests her a lot more than being an ideological vote, honestly, for anybody.'
Though, the bounds of that unifier are now being tested by the Trump administration.
Since President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding unless Maine complies with his executive order banning transgender girls from playing girls' sports, the state has been the subject of several probes and funding cuts that have been widely interpreted as retaliatory.
Some Mainers say these terminations underscore why Maine needs Collins, one of Congress' most senior members and top appropriators. Others argue the executive's actions reveal a crack in Collins' power.
When asked whether she believes she can still ensure Maine receives both the funding it's owed and continued appropriations for new initiatives, Collins did not hesitate to say, 'I do.'
Both Republican leaders of the Maine Legislature, Sen. Trey Stewart of Aroostook County and Rep. Billy Bob Faulkingham of Winter Harbor, said, without a doubt, that Collins should not face a primary challenger. Why? Federal funding.
'I think it's absolutely insane to vote out Susan Collins, who brings so much money into the state of Maine,' Faulkingham said.
In fiscal year 2022, Congress reinstated earmarks, formally referred to as Congressionally Directed Spending in the Senate, where individual members have the ability to request funds for specific projects in their home states. Collins has secured more than $1 billion for Maine using this method since.
Collins secured more than $200 million for 105 projects in fiscal year 2022, more than $308 million for 108 projects in fiscal year 2023, and more than $577 million for 231 projects in fiscal year 2024. Her 2024 total was the most secured by any senator that year.
Throughout the years, these have gone toward initiatives related to infrastructure, medical services and affordable housing, among others.
The University of Maine System received $125.45 million from Congressionally Directed Spending secured by Collins between fiscal year 2022 and 2024, according to Chief External and Governmental Affairs Officer Samantha Warren, who called the funding 'transformational.'
Though, Warren added, these earmarks don't reflect all of the funding that Collins has helped funnel to the system, both since the earmark process was restored and before, noting Collins' longtime championing of investments for Maine's public universities including through need-based federal Pell grants and TRIO programs.
Another key funding source outside the earmark process is defense spending, which Collins has helped secure for Maine-based contractors such as Bath Iron Works and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
'Do you think we're going to be building ships at Bath Iron Works if we have a freshman legislator in the Senate? No, I don't think so,' Faulkingham said.
Do you think we're going to be building ships at Bath Iron Works if we have a freshman legislator in the Senate? No, I don't think so.
– Maine House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham (R-Winter Harbor)
When asked whether the General Dynamics-owned contractor has any concerns about Collins being able to continue to deliver in light of other congressionally appropriated funds being rescinded, David Hench, communications principal for BIW, pointed to her track record.
'Senator Collins' leadership as a member and now chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee has been invaluable in not only providing resources for our national defense, but in helping to address the transportation, housing and childcare needs of our state and workforce,' Hench said.
When asked the same, Kate Dufour, director of advocacy and communications for the Maine Municipal Association, a nonprofit state municipal league, described a similar working relationship between its members and the senator.
'Collins is a strong proponent of municipal government and has done much during her career to ensure that Maine has access to federal revenues, which reduce the burdens placed on the property taxpayers,' Dufour said.
Several other major benefactors of Collins' earmarks declined to comment on her performance as a top appropriator, including Jackson Laboratory and Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, or did not respond to requests for comment, including Maine Medical Center.
When asked about her record of delivering for the state, Collins also pointed to her ability to work with both parties to advance legislation that aids many Mainers, and Americans more broadly. For example, she pointed to her co-authoring of the Social Security Fairness Act, signed into law earlier this year under former President Joe Biden, which she said she spent more than two decades working toward. The Act restored full benefits for millions of public sector workers.
The funding process has been upended during Trump's second term, challenging Collins' otherwise steadily growing appropriations power.
The continuing resolution from GOP leadership this winter cut earmarks for community projects. Collins had secured nearly $361 million in earmarks this year before they were removed from the resolution, which she said she ultimately supported to avoid a government shutdown.
While it appears earmarks will return in bills this year to fund projects for fiscal year 2026, Mark Brewer, chair of the political science at the University of Maine, said he doesn't think anyone can actually say whether that will consistently be the case moving forward.
'Really, a lot of the things that we thought for years and years that had been norms for how things are done in Washington are not at the moment,' Brewer said.
How the White House implemented that stopgap bill demonstrated another breakdown of normal procedure, defying precedent in vetoing certain emergency spending allocations made by Congress. Collins warned the Trump administration in a letter then that the move could strain its working relationship with the Appropriations Committee.
State Sen. Rick Bennett of Oxford, a moderate Republican who has crossed paths with Collins when she previously held state-level positions and on campaign trails, said the senior senator has long focused on being institutionally responsible, an objective he also shares.
On the state level, Bennett has argued the Legislature has ceded too much power to the governor and on the national level that Congress has ceded too much to the president. Calling Congress 'barely functional on a good day,' Bennett said of Collins, 'I think it's difficult for her to find a normal process that is inclusive in this chaos.'
When asked whether Collins is charting the most effective path amid that chaos, Bennett said, 'I think we're going to find out. I don't have any advice for her. I think you'd have to be sitting in her seat in order to see what avenues she has.'
Collins has touted her behind-the-scenes conversations with officials as the most effective means to restore funding so far. Maine has been subject to both the Trump administration's across-the-board slashes as well as targeted terminations.
For example, in late February, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration notified the University of Maine that it was immediately discontinuing funding for the $4.5 million Maine Sea Grant, which has helped finance statewide research, strengthen coastal communities and support thousands of jobs over more than five decades.
While one of 34 grants across coastal and Great Lakes states throughout the country, Maine's grant was the only one terminated.
The funding cut came about a week after Trump threatened to withhold federal funding unless Maine complied with his executive order banning transgender girls from playing girls' sports. Since then, the state has been the subject of several probes and funding cuts.
On March 4, independent U.S. Sen. Angus King and Democratic U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine sent a letter to Vice Admiral Nancy Hann demanding she immediately reverse the decision. But when Hann announced on March 5 that the grant would be renegotiated, she credited conversations with Collins and her staff. The University of Maine also credited the renegotiation decision to Collins.
'We are deeply appreciative of Senator Collins' leadership and relentless advocacy on behalf of Maine Sea Grant and the hard-working Mainers it has long served,' UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy said in a statement.
Collins lost Saco resident Sandy Katz's support on issues of principle, and while not enough to gain her vote, Katz said, 'The funding is the one thing she does well.'
Values and funding, however, are becoming increasingly entwined, as exemplified by Trump's attempt to force compliance with his executive order through cuts.
On principle, Collins is against transgender athletes playing in women's sports, but when it comes to funding, she criticized the president's attempts to rescind federal dollars for Maine schools.
Trying to find her balance between the two has also been challenged with her votes on Trump's Cabinet picks. She voted for the vast majority of nominees, confirming 20 and voting against two: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Kash Patel.
Regarding Hegseth, Collins said, 'I think his difficulty in managing the department effectively has shown that my judgment was correct on that.' Since his confirmation, Hegseth has been involved in a spate of security scandals over his use of the open-source, encrypted messaging app Signal.
Regarding Patel, Collins said, 'I felt particularly at this time, but at any time, we need an apolitical FBI director and I did not think that Kash Patel was based on his writings.' Patel has authored children's books and been involved with projects that promote pro-Trump conspiracy theories.
Concerning the Cabinet picks Collins supported, one confirmation in particular stuck out to political scientist and writer Amy Fried: Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought.
Vought, an architect of Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation's blueprint to overhaul the federal government, has said he doesn't believe Congress has the final say on federal spending.
When asked whether he would comply with the Impoundment Control Act of 1974, which clarifies that presidents don't have the legal authority to ignore Congress on federal spending, Vought responded, 'No, I don't believe it's constitutional. The president ran on that view. That's his view, and I agree.'
Collins told Maine Morning Star she gives deference to presidential Cabinet picks regardless of party.
'Despite my disagreements with [Vought], which are pretty profound when it comes to the Impoundment Act, he is clearly well qualified for the position,' Collins said. 'He previously served as both deputy director of OMB and as director of OMB. So when I'm evaluating Cabinet nominees, I, in general, base my decision on whether or not the person is qualified for the job, not on whether I agree with all of their positions.'
Fried argued Collins' vote for Vought undermines her own power.
'Her big claim was 'I will be able to help the state of Maine because someday I'm going to be chair of the Appropriations Committee,'' Fried said. 'Well, if the Appropriations Committee isn't deciding what money goes where, then that just renders that whole thing null and void.'
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