A new ad released by a PAC linked to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer attacks Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins for allegedly voting to cut Medicaid, just months after she received a nonpartisan award recognizing her work advancing the program.
The ad, released by the Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC, focuses on the war in Iran and criticizes Collins for supporting the conflict while opposing legislation Democrats say would have expanded Medicaid. The ad frames the votes as prioritizing foreign spending over domestic healthcare.
The ad comes just months after Collins received the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) Congressional Medicaid Champion Award, a nonpartisan honor recognizing her efforts to strengthen Medicaid services. (RELATED: Senate GOP Swing Vote Comes Out In Support Of SAVE Act)
In a September 2025 press release, Collins’ office said she received the award “for her advocacy for Medicaid and people with disabilities during this year’s budget reconciliation process and consideration of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
“Throughout my Senate service, protecting Medicaid has been one of my highest priorities as Medicaid is essential in supporting rural hospitals, disabled and older Americans, and many families across the state of Maine,” Collins said in her acceptance speech.
The Schumer-backed ad targets Collins’ vote against S. 2882, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions and Other Matters Act. The Democrats’ shutdown bill included provisions relating to Medicaid funding and a permanent extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that Democrats designed to expire at the end of 2025. But the ad frames Collins’ vote against the broader Democratic measure as support for Medicaid “cuts,” rather than opposition to legislation that also would have rolled back earlier Medicaid policy changes. (RELATED: New Report Undermines Democrats ‘Affordable Care’ Shutdown Spin On Obamacare Subsidies)
At the time, Collins said she was open to working with Democrats on extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies, but argued that lawmakers should first pass legislation to end the government shutdown. Democrats maintained that extending the subsidies was a central component of any agreement to reopen the government.
“Throughout the budget process last year, Susan Collins voted against Medicaid cuts more than a dozen times, and was awarded for these efforts,” Shawn Roderick, a spokesperson for Collins’ campaign, told the Daily Caller. “These cookie cutter attacks and distortions of her record don’t work, but they’re all Chuck Schumer knows how to do. Mainers have seen national Democrats and dark money groups do this over and over again and they know better than to fall for it.”
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