Augusta, Maine – Today, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced its closure thanks in part to Susan Collins:
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The CPB attributed its closure not just the passage of Republicans’ rescissions package bill, but also the release of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations bill, which “excludes funding for CPB for the first time in more than five decades.” The bill came from the committee Collins chairs.
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Reporting from numerous outlets highlighted how the Republican rescissions package that will negatively impact national and local public broadcasting outlets, like Maine Public, “would not have passed the Senate had Collins not pulled an amendment she sponsored.”
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Further reporting revealed Susan Collins’ “succumbed” to a “subtle pressure campaign from her G.O.P. colleagues and the White House” to pull her own amendment to Republicans’ rescissions package that reportedly would have tanked the overall bill and would have been a “defeat for the president.”
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Collins also voted against an amendment to strike cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting from the bill.
CPB’s closure will negatively impact national and local public broadcasting outlets across the country, and hinder people’s ability to get news, especially in rural areas. According to reports, “about 12% of Maine Public’s funding comes from federal dollars awarded through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”
Maine Democratic Party spokesperson Tommy Garcia:
“Make no mistake: Susan Collins shares the blame for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting closure, and any negative impacts to news coverage in Maine. Collins had multiple opportunities to leverage her power and stop Republicans’ devastating cuts but she instead stood by, cosigning her party’s toxic agenda – just like she always does.”
See more: What They’re Saying: “Rescission Package Would Not Have Passed the Senate Had Collins Not Pulled an Amendment She Sponsored”; ICYMI: “Collins Had Succumbed to a Subtle Pressure Campaign to Get Her to Drop the Amendment.” [Puck]; Collins Again Fails Mainers: Refuses to Use Seniority to Stop GOP Handing Trump Unilateral Spending Power; ICYMI: Susan Collins Goes Scorched Earth on NPR; Collins Fails to Stop Republicans From Granting Trump Unilateral Power
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