On March 5, 2025, Susan Collins voted to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's oversight of the biggest payment apps, including Google Pay, Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo, PayPal, Cash App, and Facebook. On June 30, 2025, she voted against restoring the bureau's funding, which the One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut nearly in half.
Collins also voted to confirm the officials who gave immigration agents Americans' private records: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose agreement sent ICE more than 47,000 records from tax files before a court held it unlawful, and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Medicare and Medicaid chief Mehmet Oz, whose agency gave ICE direct access to a Medicaid database that includes enrollees’ addresses and citizenship status. Maine sued to stop the Medicaid sharing.
Susan Collins's Votes on Consumer Privacy and the Officials Who Shared Americans' Records
- Collins Voted to End Federal Privacy Oversight of the Biggest Payment Apps in March 2025. On March 5, 2025, Susan Collins voted yes on S.J.Res. 28, which passed 51 to 47 and repealed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that let it supervise the largest payment apps, including for compliance with the privacy provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, according to the Congressional Research Service. Consumer Reports said the repeal puts the privacy of their sensitive financial data at risk, because payment app providers collect extensive personal data from users and share that information widely with other companies.
- Collins Voted Against Restoring the Consumer Bureau's Funding in June 2025. On June 30, 2025, Susan Collins voted no on a motion to allow an amendment striking the One Big Beautiful Bill Act's cut to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding cap. It failed 47 to 53. The cut decreased the funding cap in FY2025 to $446 million from $823 million, nearly a 50 percent reduction in funding for the agency that supervises payment apps, credit bureaus and data brokers.
- Collins Voted to Confirm the Two Officials Who Sent Taxpayers' IRS Records to ICE. Susan Collins voted to confirm Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security on January 25, 2025 (roll call 17) and Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary on January 27, 2025 (roll call 19). In April 2025 their departments agreed that the IRS would give ICE taxpayers' addresses, and the IRS turned over more than 47,000 records ultimately deemed unlawful; a court found the IRS violated its own code approximately 42,695 times. On September 8, 2026 a federal appeals court held that the agreement indisputably contravenes the requirements of the tax privacy law.
- Collins Voted to Confirm the Health Officials Who Gave ICE Access to Medicaid Records. Susan Collins voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services on February 13, 2025 and Mehmet Oz to run Medicare and Medicaid on April 3, 2025. Their agency agreed last spring to give ICE officials direct access to a Medicaid database that includes enrollees’ addresses and citizenship status. A court limited the sharing for the states that sued, but deportation officials have access to personal Medicaid information of all enrollees in the remaining 28 states, and court filings showed, NPR reported in July 2026, that ICE shared Medicaid data it shouldn’t have with Palantir.
- Collins Voted to Confirm Russell Vought, Under Whom the Consumer Bureau Dropped a Rule to Stop Data Brokers From Selling Americans' Information. On February 6, 2025, Susan Collins voted to confirm Russell Vought as budget director, and he was confirmed 53 to 47, and he also became acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The bureau withdrew its proposed rule against data brokers selling sensitive information, which had warned that identity thieves and scammers purchase detailed financial profiles to target vulnerable consumers, particularly seniors. By March 2025, 90% of the CFPB's staff had been cut, the Associated Press reported.
- Collins Voted to Confirm the Social Security Commissioner Whose Agency Admitted DOGE May Have Misused Records. On May 6, 2025, Susan Collins voted to confirm Frank Bisignano as Commissioner of Social Security, and he was confirmed 53 to 47. In a January 2026 court filing, the government conceded that DOGE associates may have improperly accessed sensitive data at the agency, including sharing of data via a third-party Cloudflare server; the agency's former chief data officer had alleged in a whistleblower complaint that the copying put more than 300 million people's personal information at risk.
- Collins Voted to Confirm the FCC Commissioner Who Helped Repeal Phone-Network Security Rules. On June 18, 2025, Susan Collins voted to confirm Olivia Trusty to the Federal Communications Commission, and she was confirmed 53 to 45. In November 2025, Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Olivia Trusty approved the reversal of a rule requiring phone companies to secure their networks, a rule introduced in the aftermath of the China-linked Salt Typhoon intrusions into U.S. carriers.
What the Data Sharing and Consumer-Protection Cuts Under Susan Collins's Votes Mean in Maine
- Medicaid records. Maine was among the states that sued in 2025 to stop the Medicaid data sharing (plaintiff list), and in March 2026 a coalition of 22 states told a federal court that the Trump administration appears to have violated a court order by pulling Medicaid data anyway.
- Consumer protection. With the consumer bureau's funding cap cut nearly 50 percent, Mainers who are cheated by payment apps, credit bureaus or debt collectors rely on a smaller federal agency to investigate.
Frequently Asked Questions About Susan Collins on Big Tech and privacy
What is Susan Collins's record on privacy under Trump?
Susan Collins voted to repeal federal privacy oversight of the biggest payment apps and against restoring the consumer bureau's funding. She voted to confirm Scott Bessent, Kristi Noem, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mehmet Oz, whose agencies gave ICE IRS and Medicaid records, and the IRS turned over more than 47,000 records before a court held the sharing unlawful.
Did Susan Collins vote to let the IRS share taxpayer data with ICE?
Susan Collins did not vote on the agreement itself; she voted to confirm the two officials who signed it, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (roll call 19) and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (roll call 17). A federal appeals court later held that the agreement indisputably contravenes the requirements of federal tax privacy law.
Can ICE see Medicaid records in Maine?
Susan Collins voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Mehmet Oz, whose agency gave ICE direct access to a Medicaid database with enrollees' addresses and citizenship status. Maine's records are limited by a court order because Maine was among the states that sued, but in March 2026 states told the court ICE appears to have violated a court order by pulling data anyway.
How did Susan Collins vote on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding?
Susan Collins voted no on June 30, 2025 on the motion to strike the cut to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding cap from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and the cut stayed in the law, lowering the cap to $446 million for 2025.
Last updated: 2026-10-25