Collins Watch

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Keeping an eye on Maine's senior senator and Maine politics since 2006. Send tips/thoughts to collinswatch@protonmail.com. susancollinswatch.substack.com

Maine letter to the editor.
Senate Appropriations Committee calendar for July showing that the committee's July 21 hearing was characterized as a funding request review and a "Full Committee Hearing" rather than "Oversight."
Original URL for a Press Herald article suggesting the original headline was "Susan Collins signals support for Trump's $33 billion ask for Iran war
Centralmaine.com letter.
Susan Collins calls oversight hearing over Trump’s $33B ask for Iran war
Bangor Daily News headline: Troy Jackson in tight race with Susan Collins as Democrats rally behind him
Portland Press Herald letter.
Portland Press Herald headline: Susan Collins partially to blame for Biddeford killing | Letter
Troy Jackson must build a massive campaign overnight to catch Susan Collins
NYT headline: Trump to Impose 50% Tariff on Many Canadian Goods The administration will use an untested legal provision to put the duties on Canadian exports, reigniting a clash with one of America’s biggest trading partners.
Susan Collins wrestles with Trump on spending power amid tough reelection The Maine senator is campaigning on her role as Appropriations chair and faces renewed criticism from some constituents for funding ICE.
Press Herald editorial: Susan Collins and the $70 billion mistake | Editorial It’s insulting for Sen. Collins to suggest that the killing of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero could be politicized; ICE is a shameful political incarnation in pursuit of a political end.
Susan Collins and Paul LePage.
Atlantic headline: Susan Collins Is Not Concerned About Election Denial
Gregg Nunziata tweet: I'm a Collins fan, but this is bad. It's a disgrace that so many powerful people, members of a great political party, need to contort and debase themselves to humor the ravings of an insecure, power abusing, president.
Susan Collins mailer asking the recipient to "take time to personally thank" Collins.
Press Herald article: Ashley Brouillette told a reporter that she wanted to speak publicly because she had previously reported concerns to his superiors in the military about his mental health. She said he was abusive in their relationship. She said that she’s been inundated with calls, since reports of Brouillette’s involvement began circulating online, threatening her and her family.
Excerpts from Christian Potholm's Maine political history "The Splendid Game."
Bloomberg headline: Trump’s ICE Crackdown Is Becoming a Republican Liability Elections have consequences — and so do votes in Congress. Just ask Senator Susan Collins of Maine.
Boston Globe headline: Susan Collins sees her sway fray after ICE killing How the ICE killing in Maine makes Susan Collins's re-election bid even trickier.
Reuters headline: Maine ICE shooting puts Republican Senator Susan Collins in political bind
Susan Collins tweet: In addition to calling on the DHS Inspector General to conduct an independent investigation of this week’s fatal shooting in Biddeford involving ICE personnel, @SenAngusKing and I are calling on the Department of Justice to coordinate with Maine state and local law enforcement throughout its investigation.
Politico headline: ‘I’m staying out of Maine’: Chuck Schumer sidelines himself with the Senate majority on the line “He doesn't want to put his thumb on the scale,” said a strategist. “Anyone he wants would be toxic.”
WGME tweet: Sen. Susan Collins says she wants to know why the Trump administration did not anticipate Iran closing the Strait during the war.
WGME headline: Sen. Collins says she wants to see more immigrants head to northern Maine.
Maine Public article: Collins voted in June for a $70 billion funding package to ICE and U.S. Border Patrol. The proposal did not include new restrictions on immigration enforcement including mandatory body cameras, required judicial search warrants and a ban on face masks that Democrats pushed for.
NYT article: Along the route she passed Danielle Owens, a Democrat who splits her time between Maine and New Hampshire and had brought her Moxie-loving son to the parade. As Ms. Collins trotted past, Ms. Owens booed and shouted, “Shame on you.” Growing up in Southern Maine, Ms. Owens, 41, had idolized Ms. Collins, she recalled. But she soured on the senator over time,
NYT article: In January, Ms. Collins declined to call for Ms. Noem to step down after ICE agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota, splitting with two of her centrist Republican Senate colleagues, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. On Tuesday, Ms. Collins suggested that Democrats were politicizing the shooting, and that their attacks on her were “absurd.”
Alex Seitz-Wald tweet referencing Jared Golden: One of the only Democrats who actually has credibility on this issue and may actually be taken seriously by the people running and overseeing ICE.
Maine Morning Star article: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullen told independent U.S. Sen. Angus King on Monday that the man “was in a vehicle, pulled out in the vehicle, and,” in the secretary’s words, ‘weaponized’ the vehicle before being shot by an ICE agent, King said in a statement.
Tim Miller tweet: What is this statement? Susan Collins is the chair of the appropriations committee. She is responsible for providing ICE the funds that led to the murder of a man in her state. Stop acting like a helpless bystander. Susan Collins tweet: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin has informed me that the Boston office of the DHS Inspector General has taken over the investigation of the Biddeford shooting in cooperation with the FBI.
DHS tweet: On July 13, 2026, at approximately 7:00 AM ET, ICE was conducting targeted surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order of removal. An illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle. ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon.
Press Herald article: King said during the phone call, which occurred 20 minutes before noon, Mullin told him that the man killed was in his 20s and had orders to leave the country. There was a warrant out for the man’s arrest and he was the target of the ICE agents’ operation, said King.
Bangor Daily News article: The witness said that one officer had walked away after the shooting and started to cry, but returned to the man and started administering CPR when the other officers said “he has a pulse.” EMS arrived a few minutes later, she said.
The witness said agents wearing green police vests were pursuing the white sedan when they used their SUV to hit its passenger side, bringing it to a stop and surrounding it with their guns drawn. When the driver did not comply with commands to exit the car, they fired gunshots at the vehicle, she said.
Portland Press Herald article: Sen. Angus King says FBI will investigate ICE shooting, calls for transparency Sen. Angus King said he spoke with Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin about the shooting incident in Biddeford Monday morning. The Federal Bureau of Investigation will lead the investigation, said King. “What I said to the secretary was, ‘We want a full, transparent and open investigation of this matter,’” said King at a press conference at noon at the Portland International Jetport.
Susan Collins tweet: The shooting in Biddeford requires a full and impartial investigation of what happened. It is my understanding that the Biddeford police have secured the site and that the FBI is investigating.
Nathan Bernard tweet: ICE agents are surrounding a dead body in Biddeford, Maine after the fatal shooting. The entire intersection is now blocked off.
Chart showing ICE funding from 2017 through 2025.