Sen. Susan Collins is closer than ever to helming the Senate’s Appropriations Committee after Sen. Mitch McConnell said Thursday that he will lead a subcommittee overseeing defense spending as he carves out new roles for himself once he relinquishes his long-running post as Senate Republican leader.

Though McConnell’s seniority would give him first pick at committee appointments, the Kentucky Republican revealed he will assume the chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense – rather than chairing the larger appropriations committee. The role dovetails with his constant message that America needs a bulked-up military to deter threats from adversaries such as Russia, Iran and China.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, speaks on May 2, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

The transition comes as McConnell is ending his role as the longest-serving Senate leader in history, just as Republicans prepare to take majority control of the chamber after big gains in this month’s election. Republicans elected South Dakota Sen. John Thune, a top deputy to McConnell, as the next Senate majority leader.

While the appropriations committee’s new leadership will not become official until next year, Collins has previously signaled her intent to take the position. Collins, among the Senate’s most senior members, currently serves as vice chair.

“As Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, my priorities will remain helping Maine’s communities, funding biomedical research to save and improve lives, improving our infrastructure, supporting rural economic development, and helping to strengthen our workforce by supporting education, job training and child care programs,” Collins said in a statement Friday night.

Collins said she has secured more than $1 billion in congressionally directed spending – more commonly known as earmarks – for projects inside Maine over the past three years, and she vowed to “ensure that federal spending produces real results for the American people and that our state’s needs are met.”

The Senate Appropriations Committee oversees detailed decisions on all discretionary spending – spending that isn’t explicitly mandated – by the federal government, with its chair setting the body’s agenda, heading the budgeting process and leading negotiations.

Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray, who currently chairs the appropriations committee, helped net more than $4.7 billion in funding for her home state for fiscal year 2024, according to her office. That figure includes programmatic spending and congressionally directed spending, of which she secured roughly $188 million.

Traditionally, Senate committee appointments are determined based on seniority, but they are formalized through an organizing resolution at the start of a new Congress.

Collins, a moderate Republican, has clashed with president-elect Donald Trump in the past, including when she was one of seven Republican senators who voted to impeach him following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In the latest election, Collins said she would write in Nikki Haley rather than vote for Trump.

But Trump will likely need the committee’s support to enact certain campaign promises, including spending cuts, the elimination of some federal agencies and the mass deportation of immigrants, which experts predict could be costly to carry out.

MCCONNEL’S FUTURE

McConnell, 82, said Thursday that he will assume the subcommittee chairmanship at a critical time.

“America’s national security interests face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War,” the senator said in a statement. “At this critical moment, a new Senate Republican majority has a responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and primacy.”

McConnell frequently evokes Ronald Reagan’s mantra of “peace through strength” when discussing foreign policy risks and how the U.S. should respond.

McConnell’s stance could clash with Trump’s “America First” doctrine on foreign affairs. McConnell worked with Trump on a tax cuts package and the appointment of conservative judges – including three justices to the nine-member Supreme Court – during Trump’s first term as president.

Fighting back against isolationism within his own party, McConnell has championed sending weapons and other aid to Ukraine as it fends off Russia’s invasion.

McConnell said Thursday that he’s also set to become chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, which is often a more low-key panel at the center of big issues, both at the Capitol and in the country.

The committee oversees the administration of the Senate side of the building, including during inaugurations. But it also puts McConnell at the center of weighty topics, namely federal elections and voting rights, as well as the procedures of the Senate, including the debate around the filibuster. McConnell said the committee will have important work in the coming two years.

“Defending the Senate as an institution and protecting the right to political speech in our elections remain among my longest-standing priorities,” he said.

There had been considerable speculation about what roles McConnell would take after stepping down as Republican leader. He has two years left in his current Senate term and has not signaled whether he will run for reelection in Kentucky in 2026. McConnell has been a prolific appropriator for the Bluegrass State, a role he’s well-positioned to continue.

This report contains material from The Associated Press.