In 2025 Maine Senator Susan Collins voted to confirm Attorney General Pam Bondi, civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. Their Justice Department dropped its lawsuits over police abuses in Louisville and Minneapolis, ending federal oversight of the Minneapolis police, and decided not to open a criminal civil rights investigation after an ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minnesota.
Under Bondi, the Bureau of Prisons delayed First Step Act transfers to halfway houses in most cases that government auditors reviewed. Collins also voted against a motion to remove the tax-and-spending bill's new Medicaid paperwork rules, which will require people leaving jail or prison in Maine to prove they work 80 hours a month after three months out.
Susan Collins's Confirmation Votes and the Justice Department's Retreat on Police Accountability
- Collins Voted to Confirm the Officials Who Dropped the Police Abuse Cases in Louisville and Minneapolis. Susan Collins voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general on February 4, 2025 and Harmeet Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights on April 3, 2025, when Dhillon was confirmed 52 to 45 with no Democratic votes. On May 21, 2025, Dhillon's division announced it was dismissing lawsuits against the Louisville, Kentucky and Minneapolis, Minnesota police departments and moved to retract the Biden administration's findings of constitutional violations at departments including Phoenix and Memphis. In Minneapolis, the court dismissed the case with prejudice, bringing federal oversight to an end despite the City's continued support for the agreement, Red Line for Civil Rights reported.
- Collins Voted to Confirm Todd Blanche, Whose Justice Department Declined a Civil Rights Investigation of the Renee Good Shooting. On March 5, 2025, Susan Collins voted to confirm Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general, and he was confirmed 52 to 46. In January 2026, after an ICE agent killed Renee Good in Minnesota, the Justice Department decided the Civil Rights Division would not conduct a criminal investigation into the shooting, prompting a wave of resignations from the Minnesota U.S. Attorney's Office, according to Red Line for Civil Rights. In the Breonna Taylor case, In March 2026, DOJ moved to dismiss the remaining charges without explanation against two former Louisville officers. By June 2026 Blanche was serving as acting Attorney General.
- Collins Voted to Confirm the Attorney General Whose Bureau of Prisons Delayed First Step Act Releases. After Susan Collins voted to confirm Pam Bondi as attorney general, the Justice Department's Bureau of Prisons, which Bondi oversaw, fell behind on moving eligible people to halfway houses and home confinement. The Government Accountability Office found that the releases were delayed in 70% of cases reviewed, keeping people in prison past the dates the First Step Act made them eligible to leave, NOTUS reported. The bureau saw more than 1,400 corrections officers and other staff leave their positions in 2025, Filter reported, and it paid more than $387 million in overtime to staff in 2025. In February 2025 the department also moved on February 20 to dismiss gun charges against a man pardoned for the January 6 attack, extending the pardons to an unrelated case.
- Collins Voted Against Removing the Medicaid Paperwork Rules That Will Reach People Leaving Jail and Prison. On June 30, 2025, Susan Collins voted no on a motion to remove provisions of the tax-and-spending bill that cut benefits through the creation of new administrative burdens and paperwork requirements. It failed 48 to 52. Under the law, the work requirement's only exemption tied to incarceration applies if, at any point during the 3-month period ending on the first day of such month, the individual was an inmate of a public institution, so after three months people leaving jail or prison must document 80 hours of work a month. On January 1, 2027, Medicaid work requirements are scheduled to take effect nationwide, and a 2018 study found former inmates were 40 times more likely than members of the general population to suffer a fatal overdose in the first two weeks after release.
What the Criminal Justice Changes Under Susan Collins's Votes Mean for Maine
- Leaving jail in Maine. In Maine, 57 percent of the 16,431 adults with opioid use disorder on Medicaid in 2021 were covered through Medicaid expansion, KFF data show, the group that will face the work requirement starting January 1, 2027 at the latest, including people leaving Maine's jails and prisons once the three-month exemption runs out.
Frequently Asked Questions About Susan Collins on Criminal justice
What is Susan Collins's record on criminal justice under Trump?
Susan Collins voted to confirm Pam Bondi, Harmeet Dhillon and Todd Blanche, whose Justice Department dropped the Louisville and Minneapolis police cases, declined a civil rights investigation of the Renee Good shooting and dismissed the remaining Breonna Taylor charges. Under Bondi the Bureau of Prisons delayed First Step Act releases in most cases reviewed. Collins also voted against removing the Medicaid paperwork rules that will reach people leaving jail in Maine.
What happened to police consent decrees under the officials Susan Collins confirmed?
Susan Collins voted to confirm civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon in April 2025, and in May 2025 her division dropped the Louisville and Minneapolis cases and moved to retract findings against departments in Phoenix, Memphis and elsewhere. The Minneapolis case was dismissed with prejudice, ending federal oversight there.
Did the Justice Department investigate the Renee Good shooting under the officials Susan Collins confirmed?
No. Susan Collins voted to confirm Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and civil rights chief Harmeet Dhillon, and in January 2026 the department decided the Civil Rights Division would not conduct a criminal investigation into the ICE agent's killing of Renee Good in Minnesota.
Last updated: 2026-10-25