U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is poised to take over one of the most powerful committees in Congress following a decision by outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Collins has been the top-ranking Republican and vice chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee for several years now, which put her next in line for committee chair when Republicans take over the Senate in January. It's a position that Collins has long aspired to during her more than 25 years in the Senate, and she would become only the third woman in history to wield the Senate Appropriations Committee gavel.
But because of his seniority over Collins, McConnell could have opted to serve as chairman next year after he steps down as GOP leader in the Senate. On Thursday, the Kentucky Republican announced that he would serve as chairman of subcommittee that oversees defense spending.
That effectively clears the path for Collins to take over, although it won't be official until a committee organization resolution is formally approved next year. The home state of committee chairs often see an increased flow of federal dollars — and Collins said she plans to continue making sure "our state's needs are met."
“As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, my priorities will remain helping Maine’s communities, funding biomedical research to save and improve lives, improving our infrastructure, supporting rural economic development, and helping to strengthen our workforce by supporting education, job training, and child care programs," Collins said in a statement Friday evening.
“In the past three years, as I have become an increasingly senior member of the committee, I have secured more than $1 billion for hundreds of projects throughout Maine," Collins said. "I look forward to continuing to work to ensure that federal spending produces real results for the American people and that our state’s needs are met."
She will be taking the helm of the budget-writing committee just as President-elect Donald Trump — who has advocated dramatic shake-ups in the federal government and its workforce — prepares to take office once again. While presidents release budget proposals and priorities, it is Congress that holds the federal purse strings. Collins did not endorse Trump this year or in his previous bids for president.
McConnell said he was taking the subcommittee chairman post because the country's national security interests "face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War."
"At this critical moment, a new Senate Republican majority has a responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and primacy," McConnell said in a statement. "I intend to play an active role in this urgent mission as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and I look forward to working closely with incoming Chair Susan Collins to accomplish our shared goal."
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are considered some of the most powerful in Congress because they control funding for most of the federal government. As chair, Collins can not only set the committee agenda but also potentially direct large sums of money to her home state.
Maine was already the top recipient of congressional earmarks — or congressionally directed spending — in the budget bills passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee last year, according to an analysis by Roll Call.
A moderate Republican first elected in 1996, Collins is up for reelection in 2026.
