¶ Overview
Susan Collins expressed full support of RFK Jr.’s confirmation as Secretary Of Health And Human Services. Collins repeatedly defended her vote in support of RFK Jr., stating that she had no regrets. As Secretary for Health And Human Services, RFK Jr. cut $91 million in federal funding to the state, resulting in 40 Mainers losing jobs and impacts to work being completed by 70 vendors. The state would also face $3 million in funding reductions for behavioral health. Federal funding cuts for the National Institute Of Health (NIH) resulted in disruptions to 1 in 30 clinical trials, impacting 74,000 patients and research into cancer, infectious disease, and more. Overall, federal funding for cancer research was slashed 31%. Collins claimed RFK Jr. would “restore Americans’ confidence in vaccines” despite $11 billion in cuts to infectious disease and immunization grants.
¶ Collins Voted To Confirm RFK Jr. With No Regrets
¶ Collins Supported The Confirmation Of RFK Jr. And Repeatedly Defended Her Vote
¶ Collins Supported The Nomination Of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. For Health And Human Services
Collins Said She Would Vote To Confirm Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. To Be Health And Human Services Secretary. According to NBC News, “Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told reporters this evening that she plans to support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s nomination to be health and human services secretary. She had been skeptical about Kennedy, citing his anti-vaccination stances as an area of concern.” [NBC News, 2/10/25]
Susan Collins Said She Will Support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. As Secretary Of Health And Human Services “After Extensive Public And Private Questioning And A Thorough Examination Of His Nomination.” According to the Portland Press Herald, “Sen. Susan Collins said Tuesday that she will support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, despite his well-documented history of criticizing vaccines and spreading the debunked theory that they cause autism. In a written statement to the Press Herald on Tuesday afternoon, Collins said her support comes ‘after extensive public and private questioning and a thorough examination of his nomination,’ in which she received assurances from Kennedy that he would support ongoing development of a Lyme disease vaccine. Collins asked Kennedy about a Lyme vaccine and other vaccines during the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.” [Portland Press Herald, 2/11/25]
Susan Collins Said She Spoken With Health Care Professionals And That She Understands Their Concerns, But She Also Heard From Constituents Who Support The Nomination. According to Maine Public, “Critics point to Kennedy's decades of vocal skepticism about vaccines and his repeated suggestions that vaccines can cause autism — a claim that medical professionals say has been debunked. Kennedy's opponents also point to past statements from Kennedy that he would target funding for infectious diseases and drug development. Collins said she had spoken with health care professionals as recently as Tuesday morning about the nomination. ‘I understand their concerns,’ Collins said. ‘They work very hard to protect the public's health. I have also heard from a number of constituents who support RFK Jr.'s nomination. So it's not a monolith.’” [Maine Public, 2/11/25]
Susan Collins Said “I Generally, Except In Extraordinary Cases Such As Pete Hegseth, Have Given Deference To Presidents.” According to USA Today, “She was one of three Republicans to vote against Hegseth, who was still confirmed 51-50 with Vice President JD Vance's tie-breaking vote, arguing he did not have ‘the experience and perspective necessary’ to do the job. She grilled Gabbard over her former praise for government leaker Edward Snowden, but eventually decided to support her nomination ‘after extensive consideration’ and conversations with the former Democratic representative from Hawaii. ‘I generally, except in extraordinary cases such as Pete Hegseth, have given deference to presidents,’ Collins told USA TODAY last week.” [USA Today, 2/12/25]
Susan Collins Voted To Confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. According to the Portland Press Herald, “Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted yes along with nearly all of her Republican colleagues. Collins had said that, despite Kennedy’s criticisms of vaccines in the past, she was satisfied with his testimony in confirmation hearings that he would help restore Americans’ confidence in vaccines and would support development of a Lyme vaccine if confirmed by the Senate. The Senate voted 52-48 to confirm Kennedy’s nomination Thursday morning. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, was the only Republican to vote against confirmation.” [Portland Press Herald, 2/13/25]
Susan Collins Said She Does Not Regret Voting To Confirm RFK Jr. And Said “I Have Been Able To Work With Him On Several Important Issues.” Manu Raju tweeted, “On whether she regrets voting for RFK Jr: ‘No… I have been able to work with him on several important issues,’ per @DavidWright_7” [Twitter, @mkraju, 6/10/25]
[AUDIO] Susan Collins Said RFK Jr. “Promised” That He Would “Immediately Reexamine” NIH Funding Cuts. “And in the case of RFK Jr, I spent a great deal of time questioning him and both at the public hearing and in private. In fact, just on Monday morning, I called him about the disastrous new directive that would cut the administrative costs for NIH grants. Biomedical research grants, which would really hurt institutions like Jackson Labs, University of Maine, the University of New England, Maine Medical Research Institute, MDI Biological Labs. And he promised me once he was confirmed that he would immediately reexamine the directive that had been put out and that he had nothing to do with it.” [Voice Of Maine, 2/13/25]; 250213_BEF_1713
Susan Collins Said That Kennedy “Would Help Restore Americans’ Confidence In Vaccines.” According to the Portland Press Herald, “Collins said in a radio interview Thursday morning that she is supporting Kennedy because he said under oath during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education and Pension Committee, on which she serves, that he believes the polio vaccine is safe and effective, and he would not restrict the availability of vaccines or stop development of a Lyme disease vaccine in Maine. He also vowed to reexamine the administration’s cuts to grant funding for biomedical research. ‘He told me he believed in the efficacy of the polio vaccine, and said he would help restore Americans’ confidence in vaccines and our health agencies,’ she said in a written statement Tuesday. ‘I am also encouraged that Mr. Kennedy agreed to regular meetings with the chairman of the HELP Committee, who is a physician.’” [Portland Press Herald, 2/13/25]
[AUDIO] Susan Collins Said RFK Jr. Would Not Restrict The Availability Of Vaccines Or Lyme Disease Vaccine Research. “At the hearing, I asked him whether he thought the polio vaccine was safe and effective. He answered yes with no qualifications. I asked him whether he would restrict the availability of vaccines. He said he would not. And I also asked him whether he would support ongoing trials that are taking place at Maine Medical Center to develop the much needed vaccine for Lyme disease, which had reached a record high nearly 3000 reported cases last year in Maine. So given those commitments and the chair’s commitment, and the chair of this committee is a medical doctor, Bill Cassidy, to do regular oversight hearings to make sure that RFK, Jr. is keeping his commitments. I decided to support him.” [Voice Of Maine, 2/13/25]; 250213_BEF_1713
Susan Collins Said That RFK Jr.’s Performance Has Been “Mixed.” According to the Portland Press Herald, “Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has a long history of criticizing vaccines and falsely linking them to autism, is slated to testify before the appropriations committee in May. Collins, who voted in favor of Kennedy’s nomination, said Kennedy’s performance so far is ‘mixed.’ She said she’s made her case to him in person about the negative impacts of the research cutbacks. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, voted ‘no’ on Kennedy’s confirmation. Collins said Kennedy has been ‘very receptive when I call’ and that she’s not sure the cutbacks ‘are his preferences, or if they’ve been imposed on him by (the Office of Management and Budget).’” [Portland Press Herald, 4/30/25]
Susan Collins Asked RFK Jr. About Cuts To NIH Research Grants. According to the Portland Press Herald, “The exchange between Kennedy and Collins, a Maine Republican, was more polite. But Collins criticized cuts to National Institutes of Health research grants, which were implemented as a cap on indirect costs. ‘I believe strongly that this proposed cap is poorly thought out, that it’s harmful, and I know that it violates current law, because since 2018 we’ve included in the appropriations bill specific language that prevents NIH from imposing such a cap,’ Collins said. She asked Kennedy if he is reviewing the ‘one-size-fits-all’ cap and its impact on medical research. ‘We are,’ Kennedy said, but then he proceeded to defend cutbacks to indirect costs that he claimed — without evidence — were wasteful spending at universities like Stanford and Harvard. Biomedical researchers, including those in Maine laboratories, have said the NIH cutbacks have been ‘devastating’ to advancing research into a range of diseases. Indirect costs pay for items like overhead and scientific equipment and are necessary to continue the research, scientists have told the Press Herald.” [Portland Press Herald, 5/14/25]
¶ RFK Jr.’s Deep Cuts To Federal Funding For Public Health Hurt Maine
Rfk Jr. Cut $91 Million In Funding To Maine, Resulting In 40 Mainers Losing Their Jobs And $3 Million In Cuts To Behavioral Health. According to WMTW, “A spokesperson for the Maine CDC says at least 40 subcontracted workers are losing their jobs. They are all people who were subcontracted through vendors working with the Maine CDC. The Maine CDC says $91 million in federal U.S. public health contracts to the state ended on March 24. That money was part of larger cuts to state and local health agencies across the country. In a release Monday afternoon, after Maine's Total Coverage started reporting on the cuts, the Maine DHHS, which includes the Maine CDC, said those funding cuts would impact the work being done by more than 70 vendors. [...] The Maine DHHS said Maine’s Office of Behavioral Health faces nearly $3 million in federal funding reductions” [WMTW, 3/31/25]
1 In 30 Clinical Trials And 74,000 Patients Were Impacted By RFK Jr.’s Cuts With Most Of The Impacted Trials Researching Cancer. According to CBS News, “Nearly 1 in 30 clinical trials were interrupted by funding cuts to the National Institutes of Health, affecting more than 74,000 patients and research into cancer, infectious disease and more, according to a newly published paper. [...] More than 115 trials studying cancer were interrupted, as well as 97 trials that looked at infectious diseases. Trials studying cardiovascular diseases, mental health and reproductive health were also affected.” [CBS News, 11/18/25]
RFK Jr. Cut $9 Billion In Grants For Infectious Diseases And $2 Billion In Grants For Immunizations. According to the Associated Press,“In March, the Trump administration pulled $11 billion from state and local health departments without warning under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist and public health critic. The cuts abruptly ended COVID-era grants, which had also been approved for non-COVID work including vaccination and disease detection, tracking and testing. [...] HHS justified the grant cancellations by saying the money was for COVID and the pandemic is over. But most of the cuts were in areas that are especially important given today’s health threats. The biggest chunk, more than $8.9 billion, involved epidemiology and laboratory capacity related to infectious diseases, while another $2 billion was related to immunizations. In some places, the cuts are on hold due to a federal judge’s order in a lawsuit by states. But elsewhere, cuts are continuing.” [Associated Press, 5/31/25]
Funding For Cancer Research Was Slashed 31%.
According to CNN, “One analysis finds that federal funding to support cancer research was cut 31% from January through March compared with the same timeframe last year.” [CNN, 5/13/25]