Maine Sen. Susan Collins remained uncommitted Monday afternoon on President Trump's massive domestic and economic policy bill even as Republican leaders pushed to bring the controversial measure to a vote early this week.
Maine Sen. Angus King, meanwhile, joined Democrats in blasting a bill that he predicted would harm low-income Mainers and rural hospitals to primarily benefit the wealthiest Americans.
"I've been in this business of public policy now for 20 years — eight years as governor and 12 years in the United States Senate," King said in a floor speech Sunday night. "I have never seen a bill this bad. I have never seen a bill that is this irresponsible, regressive and downright cruel."
The budget reconciliation bill, which Trump has labeled his "one big beautiful bill," would implement many of his administration's key priorities. It would extend the 2017 tax cuts approved during his first term while making a host of other tax changes, such as allowing workers to deduct income from tips and overtime from their taxes. Both the House and Senate versions of the bill also contain tens of billions of dollars for border security and immigration enforcement.
But the bill would increase the federal deficit by $3.3 trillion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. And to pay for the continuation of the tax cuts, Republicans have proposed a raft of changes to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which is formerly known as food stamps. Some of those changes for both programs include adding work requirements for many able-bodied adults.
King said policy changes in the bill could result in 60,000 Maine residents losing health insurance either through Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act. And he echoed concerns that rural hospitals in Maine could be forced to reduce services or close because they could lose some Medicaid funding.
Collins has also expressed concerns about impacts on rural hospitals. An amendment she planned to introduce on Monday would increase to $50 million the amount set aside in the Senate version of the bill to help rural hospitals weather the losses. That revenue would come from allowing the 2017 tax cuts to terminate for individuals earning more than $25 million and married couples earning in excess of $50 million.
She's among a handful of Republicans who have yet to say where they stand on the overall bill. Republican leaders can only afford to lose three GOP senators and two of them — Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Rand Paul of Kentucky — have said they will not vote for the current Senate version of the bill.
"I support the tax relief in the bill for working families and small businesses," Collins, who is the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement on Monday. "The Medicaid provisions, as they stand, are problematic, particularly for people who live in rural Maine and our hospitals and nursing homes. I also oppose the new excise tax and other burdensome provisions on energy projects, producers, and consumers. We have many more amendments to go through and debate to be had before we vote on final passage."
But over the weekend, Collins cast a pivotal vote to begin debating the bill. The vote tally was 51-49, although Vice President Vance was standing by to cast a potentially tie-breaking vote.
King voted with all of the Democrats and two Republicans against allowing the bill to move forward. In his Senate floor speech, King suggested that only extending the 2017 tax cuts for people earning up to $400,000 would allow Congress to avoid making cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other safety net programs.
"There's no rush to pass this bill," King said. "Let's kill it, give it a merciful death over the next 24 hours, and then start over writing a responsible bill to deal with the expiring tax cuts for the middle class and deal with issues within the federal government that should be addressed. But this bill is not the answer. It is a sham."
