Congress must continue to work on health care, cost of living after reopening government

By U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine

At the beginning of the government shutdown, I presented to several of my colleagues, including the Senate leader, a six-point plan to reopen government:

1. Pass a short-term continuing resolution to reopen and fund government.
2. Attach the three appropriations bills that passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support on Aug. 1 to the continuing resolution.
3. Include funding for member security.
4. Ensure furloughed federal workers receive backpay.
5. Announce the next package of appropriations bills to move to the Senate floor for a vote.
6. Commit to working on the enhanced premium tax credits under the Affordable Care Act to help families afford health insurance.

After 43 days, Congress came to an agreement that includes each of these points to end the longest government shutdown in our nation’s history.

As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I worked with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, Senate leadership, members of the House of Representatives, and the administration to reach this resolution.

Throughout the process, my number one goal was to end the completely unnecessary harm that was being imposed on so many families in Maine and across the country, as well as to our national and economic security. Funding for vital federal programs on which many Americans rely was continually being put at risk. Federal employees, including members of our military and Coast Guard, law enforcement officers, Border Patrol agents, TSA screeners, and air traffic controllers, were being forced to live with the stress of missed paychecks and not knowing when they would be paid. Thankfully, the continuing resolution put an end to the needless shutdown and extends federal funding through Jan. 30.

It is significant that the agreement also includes three final Fiscal Year 2026 Appropriations bills: Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies; Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies; and the Legislative Branch.

These bills provide critical support to Maine’s veterans, troops, farmers, and rural communities.  It also contains full-year funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which supports 170,000 Mainers, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The legislation also includes nearly $35 million I sponsored for Congressionally Directed Spending for 20 projects throughout Maine. From supporting Maine’s first responders, law enforcement, and service members to increasing access to educational opportunities and generating economic development, these targeted investments will provide real and direct benefits to communities throughout our state.

While this legislation reopened government and included targeted funding for many Maine communities, it also contained an ill-advised provision that allows certain senators to sue the federal government and receive monetary damages when a federal law enforcement agency searches their electronic records without notifying them.

I opposed this provision, which was inserted into the legislation as a result of a last-minute agreement between the Republican and the Democratic leaders as part of the member security section. I was not consulted on the merits of this policy, and support its repeal.

Passage of three appropriations bills was a step in the right direction, but we must also continue to make progress on the annual funding bills. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has formally started the process to bring the next batch of five appropriations bills to the Senate floor for consideration. Each of these bills was reported out of the Appropriations Committee this summer: Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education; Interior and Environment; Commerce, Justice, and Science; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development. 

This is a welcome change from last year when then-Majority Leader Senator Chuck Schumer refused to bring a single one of the 12 annual appropriations bills to the Senate floor for consideration. The result of that obstruction was a full-year continuing resolution for Fiscal Year 2025 and a delayed start to our current appropriations process.  

Full-year continuing resolutions lock in inadequate funding levels for our national defense, and can lead to cuts to other vital programs serving our veterans, farmers, low-income families, and older Americans. They also cause a misuse of taxpayer dollars, as Congress forgoes billions of dollars in potential spending reductions, carefully identified by the Appropriations Committees.

Congress must also work to extend the enhanced premium tax credits for health insurance. I am in favor of an extension of the tax credits as well as reforms to ensure that these taxpayer-funded credits are going to the families and individuals who need them. Currently, there is no income cap on eligibility for these tax credits.

The shutdown is now behind us, but we must continue to work on issues, such as health care and the cost of living, that affect families in Maine and across the country.

Collins represents Maine in the U.S. Senate. She is the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.