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The Collins Pressure Campaign

After Sen. Susan Collins’ eleventh-hour decision to not put forth an amendment slimming down the $9 billion rescission package, she blamed a “political stunt” from Democrats for her change of heart. But a subtle pressure campaign from her G.O.P. colleagues and the White House might have been the key factor.

Susan Collins
Collins blamed the Democrats for her change of heart—she said they were pulling a “political stunt” because they planned to vote for her amendment but against the final rescissions package. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Leigh Ann Caldwell
July 21, 2025

In the hours-long “vote-a-rama” ahead of the rescissions vote on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, Sen. Susan Collins authored an amendment that would have slimmed down the cuts in the measure from $9 billion to about $6.5 billion by restoring funding for global health programs and the U.S. Institute of Peace. It also would have reinstated most—about $1 billion—of the funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports NPR and PBS.