Sen. Susan Collins weighed in on Tuesday on President Donald Trump’s highly controversial “Big Beautiful Bill” spending package, which is currently facing some resistance from both parties in the Senate.
“I do not want to see a tax increase go into effect for our small businesses, for example, and for middle and lower income families. I want to see the doubling of the child tax credit remain and not revert to where it was. So, there is a lot good in the bill. I am looking very carefully at the Medicaid provisions in particular,” said Sen. Collins.
The bill passed through the House with an extremely slim 215-214 majority and would continue the President’s 2017 tax cuts, introduce tax exemptions for tips and overtime, fund border security initiatives, make some cuts to welfare programs, and increase the debt ceiling by $4 trillion, among a variety of other things.
Some Republicans, including Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), have raised concerns that the bill will increase the national debt and expressed disappointment that it fails to codify many of the spending cuts recommended by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
One Republican, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), has vowed not to support the bill if it includes cuts to entitlement programs such as Medicaid, an objection shared by Democrats.
Sen. Collins told WABI that she has not yet decided how she will vote on the so-called big, beautiful bill, also expressing concerns over the Medicaid cuts but also wanting a continuation of Trump’s tax cuts.
Despite her objection to Medicaid cuts, Collins voiced her support for some of the changes made to the program and to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), more commonly known as food stamps, that would expand work requirements for able-bodied adults benefiting from the taxpayer-funded welfare programs.
Given the Senate’s slim 53-47 Republican majority, and opposition from multiple GOP senators, the “Big, Beautiful Bill” is unlikely to receive the majority votes it needs to pass through the Senate without significant changes.
Capitol Hill pundits are arguing that moderate like Collins will likely have a bigger impact on how the Senate amends the bill than budget hawks like Sen. Paul or conservatives like Sen Ron Johnson (R-WI) who told Tucker Carlson on Wednesday that what the House passed doesn’t go far enough for him on provisions like work requirements for entitlements.
Senators have an opportunity to tweak the spending package into something that could receive a simple majority, and Collins has said that she is working with her colleagues to change the bill. Although she did not specify what changes she would make, her other comments suggest that she would like to see the bill’s Medicaid cuts removed.
She has also expressed worries about how the House version of the bill will impact rural hospitals, which are already under intense financial stress in Maine.
If the Senate makes changes to the bill, it will need to return to the House for passage before it can proceed to Trump’s desk. House leadership has warned the Senate not to change too much, but given the range of positions on the GOP side of the upper chamber, that’s a pretty tall order right now.
