On October 9, 2025, Dan Sullivan voted against requiring a governor's consent before certain National Guard duty in a state and against barring federal officers at protests from hiding their identities. In June 2026 he voted against body cameras for immigration agents, after ProPublica counted at least 63 Americans detained while recording agents.
Sullivan cast one of the 50 votes that confirmed Pete Hegseth, whose Pentagon pushed out reporters who would not sign its press rules and moved to cut a senator's retirement pay over a video, and he voted to confirm the Justice Department leaders who targeted dozens of political opponents with criminal charges. In Alaska, ICE arrested at least 47 people in the first months of 2026.
Dan Sullivan's Votes and Confirmations on Civil Liberties
- Sullivan Voted Against Requiring a Governor's Consent Before Guard Troops Patrol a State. On October 9, 2025, Dan Sullivan voted no on Senator Chris Van Hollen's amendment requiring the consent of the chief executive officer of a state for certain full-time National Guard duty there; it failed 47 to 50. The same day he voted no on an amendment placing a limitation on provision of support by Armed Forces to civilian law enforcement without notice to Congress. A judge had ruled that the Los Angeles deployment violated a federal law against military members conducting domestic law enforcement, warning of "a national police force with the President as its chief", and the administration's Guard deployment has so far reached Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Memphis, Tennessee; Chicago and Portland by October 2025.
- Sullivan Voted Against Barring Federal Officers at Protests From Hiding Their Identities. On October 9, 2025, Sullivan voted no on Senator Jeff Merkley's amendment requiring federal officers doing crowd control to show their agency and an identifier, and providing that they may not tape over or otherwise obscure or conceal the identifying information. It failed 47 to 50. Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk was arrested on the street by masked men in plainclothes, and in an arrest a federal judge later ruled unlawful in Iowa, "No identification was made" by the ICE agents.
- Sullivan Voted Against Body Cameras for Immigration Agents Who Detain People for Filming Them. On June 5, 2026, Sullivan voted no on an amendment to buy body-worn cameras for immigration officers and make the footage available to the people filmed. It failed 46 to 53. ProPublica counted at least 63 Americans detained while recording agents, and Alex Pretti was fatally shot while filming an immigration operation in Minneapolis.
- Sullivan Cast One of the 50 Votes for Pete Hegseth, Who Restricted the Pentagon Press Corps and Punished a Senator for a Video. On January 24, 2025, Sullivan voted to confirm Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, by 50 to 50 with the Vice President breaking the tie. Under his press rules, dozens of Defense Department correspondents refused to sign on to the new guidelines and were then forced to surrender their press badges, and the Pentagon polygraphed approximately 50 members of the U.S. military's Joint Staff in a leak hunt. Hegseth moved to cut Senator Mark Kelly's military retirement pay as punishment for a video on illegal orders until a judge granted Sen. Mark Kelly's request for a preliminary injunction against Pete Hegseth.
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm the Justice Department Leaders Who Prosecuted Trump's Critics. Sullivan voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general on February 4, 2025 and Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general on March 5, 2025. Their department targeted dozens of political opponents with criminal charges, most of which failed: a judge tossed the Comey and James cases after finding the prosecutor unlawfully appointed, and prosecutors sought to indict six Democratic lawmakers over a video telling troops they may refuse illegal orders until a grand jury declines to indict Democratic lawmakers, as CNN reported.
- Sullivan Cast One of the 50 Votes for Todd Blanche After His Department Subpoenaed Reporters. In July 2026, while Todd Blanche was acting attorney general, the Justice Department subpoenaed multiple New York Times reporters in a leak investigation. On August 8, 2026, Sullivan voted to confirm Blanche as attorney general, 50 to 49, so his vote alone would have changed the result. In June 2026 the department had also raided a voter-registration group: the DOJ raided the Cleveland office of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, according to Protect Democracy; no charges have been reported.
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm the Homeland Security Secretaries Whose Agents Monitored Protesters and Searched a Congresswoman's Home. Sullivan voted to confirm Kristi Noem in January 2025 and Markwayne Mullin in March 2026 to lead the Department of Homeland Security. ICE leadership claimed authority to use all available tools to monitor and investigate anti-ICE protester networks, including citizens, Brookings found. Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference, and under Mullin Homeland Security Investigations agents executed a court-approved search warrant at Omar's home, 22 days before the election.
- Sullivan Voted to Confirm Marco Rubio, Whose State Department Revoked Students' Visas Over Their Speech. On January 20, 2025, Sullivan voted to confirm Marco Rubio as secretary of state. His department revoked Rümeysa Öztürk's student visa for writing an op-ed in her student paper, and a federal court later found that the purpose of this policy was to chill pro-Palestinian speech and declared it unconstitutional; the appeal is ongoing.
What the Crackdown Under Officials Dan Sullivan Confirmed Has Meant in Alaska and Beyond
- ICE arrests. So far in 2026, ICE has arrested at least 47 people in Alaska, holding them in state jails because Alaska has no federal detention center.
- Citizens detained. ProPublica documented 506 U.S. Citizens Detained by immigration agents nationally, including at least 70 American children and teens detained.
- Prosecutions of critics. Protect Democracy's tracker found that of the administration's criminal cases against political opponents, Most of the cases have failed.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dan Sullivan on Civil liberties
What is Dan Sullivan's record on civil liberties under Trump?
Dan Sullivan voted against requiring a governor's consent for Guard duty in a state, against barring officers at protests from concealing their identities, and against body cameras for immigration agents. He cast deciding votes to confirm Pete Hegseth and Todd Blanche, and he voted to confirm the officials whose Justice Department targeted dozens of political opponents with criminal charges.
How did Dan Sullivan vote on masked federal agents?
Dan Sullivan voted no on October 9, 2025 on an amendment requiring federal officers at protests to display their agency and an identifier and barring them from covering it, and it failed 47 to 50. ProPublica later counted 506 U.S. Citizens Detained by immigration agents.
Did Dan Sullivan vote to confirm the officials who prosecuted Trump's critics?
Yes. Dan Sullivan voted to confirm Pam Bondi, Todd Blanche and Jeanine Pirro, whose offices investigated or charged critics including James Comey, Letitia James and six Democratic lawmakers; a grand jury declined to indict the lawmakers in February 2026.
Last updated: 2026-10-25