AUGUSTA, Maine — U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King have led their Capitol Hill peers in obtaining earmarks worth hundreds of millions of dollars for Maine projects, but they would not be included in a bill that would avert a federal government shutdown.
The Republican-led Congress, facing a Friday deadline to avert a partial shutdown, moved ahead Tuesday with a continuing resolution to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year in September. The House passed it 217-213, with U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, the Democrat from Maine’s 2nd District, the only member of his party to support it.
The U.S. Senate that features a 53-47 GOP advantage needs at least eight Democrats to support the six-month funding measure to reach a 60-vote threshold amid U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, opposing it. The plan does not meet Democratic demands to check President Donald Trump’s continued efforts to slash government spending and staffing.
The deal endorsed by Trump would increase spending on defense and immigration enforcement while decreasing non-defense spending by $13 billion. Much of that comes from the elimination of most earmarks that lawmakers direct to projects in their home states. Despite being a rural state with only about 1.4 million residents, Maine has benefited greatly from earmarks.
That is mostly because of Collins, the lone Republican in Maine’s delegation who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and led all of Congress last year in reportedly claiming earmarks totaling $576 million, and King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and came in third for earmarks. Collins and King have put in earmarks for hundreds of projects this year that total more than $1 billion.
Golden and U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat who represents Maine’s 1st District, have claimed far smaller amounts of earmarks due to rules in the lower chamber, but their requests for this year still total about $30 million combined.
While dollar amounts for the earmarks, also referred to as “congressionally directed spending,” that each member is seeking this year are still in flux depending on what Congress approves, they cover a broad range of projects.
To mention only a few, Collins requested $8.9 million for the relocation and construction of a Pines Health Services health center in her native Caribou, and King is seeking nearly $5 million for Gardiner to improve its wastewater treatment facility. Pingree, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee, requested $1.2 million to expand the Bath-based Midcoast Youth Center, and Golden asked for $1.4 million to rebuild the town dock on Swan’s Island.
Republicans ended earmarks in 2011 after winning control of the U.S. House of Representatives during former President Barack Obama’s tenure, but a decade later, Republicans joined Democrats in voting to reallow earmarks. Critics have derided earmarks as “pork” spending.
Collins did not respond to a request for comment on earmarks Tuesday but has suggested she will support the House plan to avoid a shutdown, even if it does not put checks on Trump’s efforts to cut spending without congressional approval.
“Government shutdowns are inherently a failure to govern effectively and have negative consequences all across government,” Collins said over the weekend. “We cannot allow that to occur.”
Pingree was the only member of Maine’s delegation to explicitly come out against the GOP-backed funding measure ahead of Tuesday’s vote, saying it “creates another dangerous opportunity for President Trump and Elon Musk to defund congressional priorities.”
The cuts to non-defense spending and lack of limits on Trump’s spending actions are why Democrats have largely signaled opposition to the short-term plan, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, saying the cuts affect nutritional assistance for children and families along with health care programs.
