Susan Collins voted to confirm Michael Kratsios as White House science adviser in March 2025, and his office drafted the March 2026 framework saying Congress should preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens, a step 57% of Americans oppose in a YouGov poll. She voted to confirm the officials who set up a Justice Department task force to challenge State AI laws and the Commerce officials who allowed sales of advanced AI chips to China.
In March 2025 Collins voted against an amendment to prohibit the use of appropriated amounts by DOGE, whose staff used AI to flag Veterans Affairs contracts for cancellation, and in July 2025 she voted against keeping wind and solar on equal footing in the tax code as data centers add record demand to the power grid.
Susan Collins's Confirmations and Votes on AI, DOGE and Data Center Power
- Collins Voted to Confirm the White House Science Adviser Who Drafted the Plan to Override State AI Laws. On March 25, 2025, Susan Collins voted to confirm Michael Kratsios as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and he was confirmed 74 to 25. The July 2025 AI Action Plan his office produced says the government should not allow AI-related Federal funding to be directed toward states with burdensome AI regulations, and the March 2026 framework, drafted under the direction of White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director Kratsios, says Congress should preempt state AI laws that impose undue burdens. In a YouGov poll for the Institute for Family Studies, 57% of Americans oppose congressional efforts to block states from regulating AI.
- Collins Voted to Confirm the Veterans Affairs Secretary Under Whom a DOGE AI Tool Flagged Contracts for Cancellation. On February 4, 2025, Susan Collins voted to confirm Doug Collins as Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and he was confirmed 77 to 23. ProPublica reported in June 2025 that at the VA the DOGE AI tool flagged more than 2,000 contracts for cancellation and that it hallucinated the size of contracts, frequently misreading them and inflating their value. The contracts the department canceled included one to maintain a gene sequencing device used to develop better cancer treatments.
- Collins Voted to Confirm the Commerce Officials Who Cleared Advanced AI Chip Sales to China. Susan Collins voted to confirm Howard Lutnick as Secretary of Commerce on February 18, 2025 and Jeffrey Kessler as the under secretary who runs export controls on March 13, 2025. On January 13, 2026, the Department of Commerce published a new regulation permitting the sale of advanced AI chips to China, and the regulation acknowledges that exporting advanced AI chips to China poses serious national security risks, according to an analysis by the Council on Foreign Relations.
- Collins Voted to Confirm the Justice Officials Who Set Up a Task Force to Challenge State AI Laws. Susan Collins voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general on February 4, 2025 and Harmeet Dhillon as head of the Civil Rights Division on April 3, 2025. A December 2025 executive order directed the attorney general to create a task force whose sole responsibility shall be to challenge State AI laws, and in April 2026 the Justice Department moved to intervene in a lawsuit filed by artificial intelligence company xAI against Colorado's law on discrimination by AI systems; that case is pending.
- Collins Voted Against Cutting Off Money for DOGE in March 2025. On March 14, 2025, Susan Collins voted no on Senator Chris Van Hollen's amendment to prohibit the use of appropriated amounts by DOGE. It failed 48 to 52. DOGE went on to use AI across agencies: at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, a DOGE operative was tasked with using artificial intelligence to rewrite the agency's rules and regulations, and at Social Security a whistleblower said a former DOGE employee copied the Social Security numbers, names and birthdays of over 300 million Americans into a cloud system, which the agency disputed. In a January 2026 court filing, the government conceded that DOGE associates may have improperly accessed sensitive data at the agency.
- Collins Voted Against Keeping Wind and Solar Credits as Data Centers Drove Up Power Demand. On July 1, 2025, Susan Collins voted no on Senator Jacky Rosen's amendment to maintain parity for wind and solar facilities under the Internal Revenue Code, and on March 25, 2026 she voted against taking up a resolution to overturn the IRS rule that makes a physical-work test the sole method for most projects to qualify, and both failed 47 to 53. As data centers add demand, in the largest regional grid in the eastern United States, the market monitor found data-center load had translated into a $13 billion cost increase for customers in recent capacity auctions.
- Collins Voted to Confirm the Energy Secretary Who Kept Coal Plants Open, Citing Data-Center Demand. On February 3, 2025, Susan Collins voted to confirm Chris Wright as Secretary of Energy. His department's emergency orders to keep retiring coal plants running carry out an executive order that cited demand driven by rapid technological advancements, including the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers, and IEEFA counted at least $300 million in extra costs through mid-May 2026 for ratepayers.
What the AI and Data Center Policies Under Susan Collins's Votes Mean for Maine
- Data center debate. Maine's Legislature passed LD 307, which bans data centers larger than 20 megawatts until November, 2027; Governor Janet Mills vetoed it while citing the impacts of massive data centers in other states on the environment and on electricity rates.
- Energy bills. Energy Innovation projects that the 2025 law and other federal energy policy changes mean Maine households will pay an additional $2.6 billion for energy by 2035, a projection that includes the end of the wind and solar credits.
- Social Security records. The Social Security records the whistleblower said were copied cover over 300 million Americans, including Maine's retirees and workers; the government later conceded that DOGE associates may have improperly accessed sensitive data.
Frequently Asked Questions About Susan Collins on Artificial intelligence and data centers
What is Susan Collins's record on artificial intelligence and data centers under Trump?
Susan Collins voted to confirm Michael Kratsios, whose office drafted the plan to preempt state AI laws, and Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins, under whom a DOGE AI tool flagged more than 2,000 contracts. She voted against an amendment to cut off DOGE's money and against keeping wind and solar on equal footing in the tax code as data centers drive record power demand. She also voted to confirm the Commerce officials who allowed advanced AI chip sales to China.
How did Susan Collins vote on DOGE?
Susan Collins voted no on March 14, 2025 on an amendment to prohibit the use of appropriated amounts by DOGE, which failed 48 to 52. In April 2026 a federal appeals court vacated a court order limiting the Department of Government Efficiency's access to Social Security data, even after the government conceded DOGE associates may have improperly accessed it.
Are data centers raising electric bills in Maine?
Susan Collins voted against keeping wind and solar tax credits on equal terms in July 2025 as data centers add demand. Governor Janet Mills cited the impacts of massive data centers in other states on the environment and on electricity rates when she vetoed Maine's moratorium, and in the eastern PJM grid data-center demand translated into a $13 billion cost increase for customers.
Last updated: 2026-10-25