Scoop: Collins plans to grill six Cabinet officials on Trump's budget

Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins (R-Maine) will summon six Cabinet officials to testify next week as part of an effort to fund the government before the fiscal year ends on September 30. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins are scheduled to appear before subcommittees on April 22. Collins, seeking her sixth term, aims to show Maine voters she can deliver ahead of November's elections. She is also trying to persuade Democrats to engage in bipartisan appropriations talks, arguing they lose leverage when Republicans resort to reconciliation. Senate Republicans are coalescing around a "skinny" reconciliation package to provide three years of funding for ICE and CBP, while funding the rest of the Department of Homeland Security through a traditional appropriations bill.