What is Susan Collins's role in NASA funding?: As chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she controls the legislation that sets NASA budgets. She expressed bipartisan concern over the FY2027 proposal to cut NASA to $18.8 billion.Source: background
Is Susan Collins supporting Artemis II funding?: Collins expressed concern over the FY2027 NASA budget cuts, aligning with bipartisan congressional resistance. Congress previously rejected the same White House request and funded NASA at $24.4 billion.Source: background
What committee does Susan Collins chair?: The Senate Appropriations Committee, which sets federal spending levels for all agencies including NASA and defence.
What is Susan Collins's position on the Iran war powers debate?: Collins publicly backed Senator Murkowski's Iran AUMF draft on 25 April 2026 as its second Republican sponsor, after criticising Trump's 'annihilation' rhetoric on earlier WPR votes without crossing the floor.Source: Lowdown Iran Conflict 2026 U79
Why does Susan Collins matter for the NASA budget?: As Senate Appropriations chair, Collins controls the funding legislation that determines NASA's final budget. She expressed bipartisan concern over the FY2027 $18.8bn proposal, and Congress rejected the same White House number the previous year, passing NASA at $24.4bn instead.Source: event
Who is backing Lisa Murkowski's Iran AUMF?: As of 27 April 2026, Republican Senators Susan Collins (Maine), Thom Tillis (North Carolina), and John Curtis (Utah) are on record as backers of Murkowski's draft AUMF.Source: Lowdown Iran Conflict 2026 U81
What is the War Powers Resolution deadline for the Iran war?: The operative WPR deadline is 1 May 2026; Trump's formal congressional notification was filed on 2 March, 48 hours after the 28 February strikes, starting the 60-day clock.Source: Lowdown Iran Conflict 2026 briefings
What is Susan Collins's role in the Iran war-powers debate?: Collins has escalated from rhetoric to floor votes across 2026: she co-sponsored the Murkowski AUMF in April, crossed on WPR votes 6 and 7, and on 19 May was among four Republicans who passed the discharge motion 50-47, placing the Kaine resolution on the Senate floor calendar for the first time.Source: event
Did Susan Collins vote against the Iran war?: Collins voted for the Iran War Powers Resolution on 30 April 2026 as only the second Republican to do so, then voted for the seventh WPR on 13 May, and on 19 May crossed for the discharge motion that put the Kaine resolution on the floor calendar — the first successful procedural advance after seven defeats.Source: event
What did Susan Collins do on the Cuba war-powers vote?: Collins voted with Democrats on 29 April 2026 on a Cuba war-powers resolution, crossing party lines alongside Rand Paul; the resolution was ultimately blocked 51-47 on a point-of-order by Senator Rick Scott.Source: event

Background

Susan Collins (R-ME) has served in the US Senate since 1997 and is one of its most consistently bipartisan members. She chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, which sets final federal spending levels for all government agencies, giving her leverage over budgets from defence to NASA independently of White House requests. Collins is known for breaking with Republican leadership on select issues where she judges executive overreach or institutional norms to be at stake, a pattern that has made her the most-cited Republican crossover in Lowdown's 2026 coverage.

On Iran war powers, Collins's position evolved across 2026. She criticised Trump's 'annihilation' rhetoric without crossing the floor on the first five War Powers Resolution votes, then publicly backed Senator Murkowski's Iran AUMF draft as its second Republican co-sponsor on 25 April. On 30 April 2026, she voted for the sixth WPR motion as only the second Republican to defy the administration across six Iran votes. On 13 May, she was among three Republicans (with Murkowski and Paul) who voted for the seventh resolution that fell 49-50. On 19 May 2026, she was among four crossing Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee discharge motion that cleared 50-47, placing the Kaine war-powers resolution on the floor calendar for the first time in eight attempts — the conflict's first successful procedural advance. Collins also crossed on the Cuba war-powers vote of 29 April, voting with Democrats to demand withdrawal alongside Rand Paul.

Her significance in Lowdown's coverage spans Iran, Cuba, Artemis II, and the midterms. On Artemis II, she expressed bipartisan concern over the FY2027 NASA budget proposal of $18.8 billion, the same White House top-line Congress rejected the previous year in favour of $24.4 billion; as Appropriations chair she is the most credible legislative check on that cut. Collins is also a factor in the 2026 Senate midterm calculus as the archetypal moderate Republican whose crossovers signal the outer limit of Republican institutionalism.

Source Material

Senator Susan Collins — Official Website

How the World Sees Them

Democratic caucus

Collins's escalating crossovers, from AUMF backing to floor votes to the discharge motion, have provided the margin on the most consequential Iran procedural victory of the conflict; Democrats need her to hold for the floor vote to succeed.

Iran-conflict context

Tehran and Washington's diplomatic teams read Collins's discharge crossing as the most significant congressional signal yet that the war-powers constraint is real; the first procedural success in eight attempts removes one assumed executive protection.

Republican leadership

Collins represents the bipartisan institutionalist wing; her crossings have given Murkowski's AUMF and now the Kaine resolution legislative momentum that Republican leadership had assumed would never materialise.

NASA / Artemis context

As Senate Appropriations chair, Collins's resistance to the NASA budget cut is the most credible legislative check on the $5.6bn reduction; her track record of passing NASA at $24.4bn against an $18.8bn request demonstrates the committee's practical autonomy from White House proposals.