Augusta, Maine – In case you missed it, as she faces the political heat, Susan Collins is now scrambling to rewrite her record on a provision that would provide taxpayer-funded payouts to her fellow Republican Senators – despite her previously taking full credit for it.

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Bangor Daily News: Susan Collins now wants to repeal part of the shutdown deal she took credit for crafting
By Billy Kobin
November 19, 2025

  • Language slipped into the measure that Collins took credit for crafting to fund the government through January lets senators sue the government if they discover their electronic records were seized and requires a court to award them $500,000 or more for each violation found to have occurred.

  • It specifically would benefit eight GOP senators who had their phone records accessed in former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

  • The lawsuit provision was the latest dilemma putting senators in awkward positions after weeks of squabbling during the shutdown. A Democratic-aligned advocacy group launched an ad Tuesday tying Collins [...] to its inclusion in the funding deal.

  • Collins, the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, has said she played a pivotal role in crafting and negotiating the shutdown-ending deal.

  • The ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, reportedly said this month that Collins inserted it at Thune’s behest.

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