Augusta, Maine - In case you missed it, reporting is continuing to highlight how “Susan Collins had the chance to stop” the closure of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) but “caved” after a “subtle pressure campaign” from her party. The recent report details how Collins pulled her own amendment that could have stopped the overall passage of the Republican bill gutting funding for CPB.  

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Maine Beacon: Collins caved, and public broadcasting is paying the price
By Channa Steinmetz
August 8, 2025

• The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) is shutting down after more than five decades, and U.S. Sen. Susan Collins had the chance to stop it.
• The agency announced its closure following the passage of the GOP-led federal rescissions bill and the release of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s 2026 spending plan, which for the first time excludes funding for CPB. That committee is chaired by Collins. The CPB manages the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting and is the biggest source of funding for public radio, TV, and related digital services. Some of the most notable programs to have received CPB funding include Sesame Street, Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, PBS NewsHour and NPR News.
• CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said the organization will begin winding down operations this fall, with most staff positions ending September 30. The cuts will affect national and local public media — including Maine Public, which receives about 12% of its funding through CPB. This does not mean Maine Public is shutting down.
• In an hours-long vote ahead of the rescissions package, Collins introduced an amendment to restore $1 billion in CPB funding. She reportedly had the votes — including bipartisan backing — and the amendment would have been a “rare defeat” for the president. But after what Puck News reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell described as a “subtle pressure campaign” by GOP senators and Trump allies, Collins pulled the amendment.
• Collins had previously spoken out against NPR, echoing Trump administration claims of bias and said that she “would support defunding it.” Although Collins ultimately voted against the rescissions package, she allowed the cuts to advance as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee — a move that Maine Democrats said enabled the GOP’s push to hand Trump sweeping control over federal spending.
• Earlier this month, the Maine Democratic Party launched a new campaign called Collins Cost Us during August recess to highlight what it calls her record of siding with Republicans at Mainers’ expense.
• “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,” said party spokesperson Tommy Garcia.

See more: Susan Collins Bears Responsibility for Closure of Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Impacts to Maine; 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