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Checked against the record · Maine Senate 2026

Did Susan Collins block federal whale rules that threatened Maine lobstering?

Matches stated direction. She voted for the 2022 spending law that put off new right whale rules for lobstering until the end of 2028; it delayed them rather than ending them, and does not show who wrote that part.

Susan M. Collins

Lobstering and the right whale rules

Matches stated direction

What they say

In both debates she said she blocked Biden administration proposals that she said would have shut down lobstering in Maine.

What the record shows ·

On December 22, 2022 she voted Yea as the Senate passed the 2023 spending bill, 68 to 29; it became Public Law 117-328 on December 29. Its Division JJ says the government's 2021 right whale rule is enough for the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries to meet the whale protection laws until December 31, 2028, and has the fisheries service write new rules for them that take effect by then.

Limit: The law put off new whale rules for lobstering until the end of 2028; it did not end them. The law does not show who wrote that part. Her other examples, medical research cuts and the Job Corps centers, were not checked.

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  1. WGME CBS13/FOX23 debate, October 6: Collins's closing statement (54:09)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1u58uiW8IeM&t=3249s

    CBS 13 News (WGME) · Published Oct 6, 2026 · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026

    54:09-55:11. Described from the host's YouTube captions; no second transcript was found, so the words are not quoted.

    candidate statement

    For: Did Susan Collins block federal whale rules that threatened Maine lobstering?

  2. WMTW debate, October 8: Collins's opening statement (3:45)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHWVvlZCRXA&t=225s

    WMTW-TV · Published Oct 8, 2026 · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026

    3:45-4:52. Described from the host's YouTube captions; no second transcript was found, so the words are not quoted.

    candidate statement

    For: Did Susan Collins block federal whale rules that threatened Maine lobstering?

  3. Roll Call Vote 421, H.R. 2617, the 2023 spending billhttps://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00421.htm

    U.S. Senate · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026

    December 22, 2022. The motion that passed the Senate's version of the spending bill was agreed to 68 to 29; Collins Yea.

    official legislative record

    For: Did Susan Collins block federal whale rules that threatened Maine lobstering?

  4. Public Law 117-328, Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (H.R. 2617)https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-117publ328

    U.S. Government Publishing Office · Reviewed Oct 10, 2026

    Became law December 29, 2022. Division JJ, section 101, deems the 2021 right whale rule enough for the lobster and Jonah crab fisheries to comply with the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act until December 31, 2028, and has the National Marine Fisheries Service issue new rules for those fisheries that take effect by then.

    official legislative record

    For: Did Susan Collins block federal whale rules that threatened Maine lobstering?