Sen. Susan Collins

Nurses rallied in Portland today against the proposed Medicaid cuts in the budget bill that they say prevent thousands of Mainers from receiving the care they need.

Under the so-called "Big Beautiful Bill" the Energy Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credit would phase out at the end of the year. Senators passed a version of the proposal Tuesday.

Collins, a key vote in advancing the proposal over the weekend, was one of three GOP holdouts on Tuesday that forced Vice President JD Vance to break a tie.

Sen. Angus King, an independent, argued that one person should not have ability to commit the U.S. military to war. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, said she supports Trump's ordering of airstrikes against Iran's nuclear facilities and that they were designed to protect the U.S. and its allies.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins said she is still evaluating all the provisions in the major spending bill before the Senate.

Trump posted on social media Wednesday that Collins and three other Republican senators were "playing with the lives of the American people" by supporting a Democratic effort to undo his Canadian tariffs — which were absent from a list unveiled later in the day.

The proposal would have direct implications in Maine, where a law has allowed some transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. The Trump administration has threatened to yank the state's share of federal funding, launched a series of investigations and threatened to sue the state.

Phillip Rench, of Waterboro, has filed as an independent. He formerly worked for Space X, the space exploration company owned by billionaire and President Trump ally Elon Musk

Maine's two senators have voted opposite of one another on more than a half-dozen of President Trump's Cabinet picks. The latest, vaccine-skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr., will now lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Republican said she received several assurances from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on vaccines, although many public health organizations strongly opposed his nomination because of his legacy of questioning the safety and efficacy of vaccines.