Stories

Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Sep 23, 2026

ProPublica Reports the FBI's Anti-Corruption Squad Was Circling Susan Collins Over a Defense Contractor's $150,000 to Her Super PAC — Until Trump Returned and the Probe Was Dropped — Collins Calls It "Clearly a Political Hit Job," John Thune Blames "a Left-Wing Outlet," and Her Democratic Opponent Says "This Is Corruption of the Highest Order"

On September 22, 2026, ProPublica reported that an FBI public-corruption squad had been seeking approval by late 2024 to open a wider bribery investigation touching Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), built on previously undisclosed FBI interviews with Martin Kao, the former CEO of Hawaii defense contractor Navatek, who is serving an 87-month sentence after pleading guilty in 2022 to illegal campaign contributions and fraud. Kao told agents that after a November 2019 meeting with the head of the pro-Collins super PAC, who allegedly asked for $500,000, he routed $150,000 to the PAC through a shell company, and that Collins had committed to steering Navy research contracts to the company. According to ProPublica, the inquiry was abandoned after Trump returned to office and FBI Director Kash Patel removed the agents and dismantled the unit handling it. Collins, who faces Democrat Troy Jackson in one of the most competitive Senate races of the midterms, denies any wrongdoing, noting that the Biden Justice Department found none in 2021, and blamed the report on Chuck Schumer. The FBI said the allegations "had already been investigated by the FBI years ago and ultimately found nothing implicating Senator Collins or Senator Collins' campaign." The New York Times separately reported that agents had found little to corroborate Kao's claims.

“[Thune called the report a] political hit job by a left-wing outlet. … I don't think there's ever been any implication that she or her campaign were in any way implicated in that.”
John Thune (R-SD) · Sep 23, 2026

Trump Orders Russ Vought to Draft an Executive Order Giving a White House Board Veto Power Over NIH Grants — Susan Collins Calls It "Contrary to Congressional Intent," Patty Murray Calls the Board "a Panel of Lackeys," and Two Days Later Collins Says "the White House Listened"

After NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya declined to cut off funding for Harvard researchers, President Trump directed OMB Director Russ Vought to draft an executive order creating a review board — including Vought and Bhattacharya — that would have to unanimously sign off on National Institutes of Health grant awards, including grants already selected through peer review. The plan drew immediate objections on September 21, 2026 from the top appropriators of both parties: Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-ME), Vice Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) and House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). Collins followed with a September 22 letter to Vought and Bhattacharya urging the administration to send Congress a legislative proposal instead. On September 23, Semafor and The Hill reported the administration was backing off the order; Collins said White House chief of staff Susie Wiles shared concerns and that "the White House listened." The stopgap funding law already bars a similar government-wide political review of grants through December 11.

“We should not have a politicized process for awarding research and biomedical grants to institutions. It needs to be merit-based, and I'm glad that the White House listened to those of us who were making that argument. … What we're hearing — and I've been weighing in with the White House — is that [chief of staff] Susie Wiles is also concerned about what the impact of this would be. And I am hoping … that the executive order won't be issued.”
Susan Collins (R-ME) · Sep 23, 2026