Susan Collins

At a Senate hearing Tuesday, Sen. Susan Collins said she was “alarmed,” “puzzled” and “concerned” that President Donald Trump’s $1.5 trillion defense budget request did not include more battleships from Bath Iron Works.

But unlike others at the meeting of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense, Collins largely steered clear of broader issues such as America’s relationship with allies, Russia’s war with Ukraine and the status of the military campaign against Iran.

Collins, a Republican who chairs the broader appropriations committee, noted that Trump’s budget request only includes one new DDG-51 destroyer, whereas previous budgets have included multiple ships. She said two destroyers were ordered last year, and three the year before that.

Collins told Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the request for a single destroyer creates uncertainty at a time when BIW is making “huge progress” on worker retention, stability and production.

“There needs to be a steady demand signal for DDGs in order to keep the yard operating at all phases, from cutting the initial steel to completing the ship,” Collins said.

Hegseth suggested that the administration was concerned about shipbuilding capacity, which is why the budget includes a $65 billion investment in the nation’s shipyards.

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“As soon as that capacity is increased, which we anticipate this investment will do, then we look forward to ordering DDGs into the future, because they are the backbone of our naval fleet,” Hegseth said.

Collins prefaced her five minutes of questions by thanking Hegseth for visiting BIW in February, where he told hundreds of hardhat-wearing workers that “Bath built is best built” and that maxing out DDG destroyers sends a message to the world.

“I fully agree with all those sentiments,” she said. “That’s why I was alarmed to see that this year’s budget request only includes funding for just one DDG-51.”

Collins’ line of questioning for Hegseth was softer than some others on the defense subcommittee, including some follow Republicans.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who chairs the subcommittee, pressed Hegseth on details of the spending plan and on the U.S. support for Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO. McConnell noted that America appears to be moving away from traditional alliances, while adversaries such as Russia, Iran, China and North Korea are working together.

And Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., used his time to advocate for increasing pressure on China, which he said buys 90% of Iran’s oil. He advocated for increasing tariffs on China until they stop buying Russian oil and gas, and questioned whether Pakistan could be a reliable mediator with Iran amid recent reports that it was harboring Iranian planes.

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Collins’ focus on contracts for BIW reflects her interest in Maine-specific issues — especially securing funding for local projects — during her reelection campaign.

This fall, Collins will likely face Democrat Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Marine veteran who fought in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and has criticized Trump’s military campaign in Iran.

Platner had been in a competitive primary with Gov. Janet Mills, but she suspended her campaign on April 30. Brunswick Democrat David Costello’s name will also be on the Democratic primary ballot, and Bangor activist Andrea LaFlamme is running as a write-in candidate.

While Collins did not take a hard line with Hegseth, she voted with Democrats to rein in Trump’s military campaign in Iran late last month. She did so after the conflict reached the 60-day threshold required by federal law for congressional authorization.

At the oversight hearing, Collins also asked Gen. John Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about whether military planners anticipated Iran’s move to choke off the Strait of Hormuz — a tactic that sent the cost of gasoline and other products soaring.

Caine said they planned for a wide range of responses, but declined to discuss specifics, since his advice to the president is confidential.

“It seems to me that there’s been a different plan almost daily with dealing with this problem, which is why I ask,” Collins said.

This is a developing story.