On September 30, 2025, the day before the government shut down, Maine Senator Susan Collins voted against a Democratic stopgap that would have kept agencies open and made the enhanced health insurance tax credits permanent, and she voted against it six more times. The 43-day shutdown ended without an extension, and the credits expired on December 31, 2025, the most lasting result of the fight, leaving marketplace enrollees in Maine and across the country to pay more for coverage in 2026.
During the 75-day Homeland Security lapse in 2026, Collins voted against advancing a motion aimed at paying airport security officers, more than 400 of whom quit while working without pay. Most other shutdown effects, from delayed food aid to canceled flights, ended when funding resumed, but CBO estimated that billions of dollars in lost economic output will never be recovered.
Susan Collins's Votes in the Shutdown Fights
- Collins Voted Seven Times Against the Stopgap That Would Have Made the Health Insurance Credits Permanent. On September 30, 2025, Susan Collins voted no on S. 2882, a stopgap that would have funded the government through October 31 and included a "PERMANENT EXTENSION OF ENHANCED TAX CREDIT" for marketplace insurance. She also voted against it on September 19, on October 1, and on October 3, October 6, October 8 and October 9, 2025. Collins voted instead for the House Republican stopgap, which had no credit extension, and neither bill reached 60 votes. The credits expired on December 31, 2025, and in 2026 KFF found that marketplace enrollees' premium payments increased by an average of 58% from $113 to $178 per month. Marketplace enrollment fell in every state except for New Mexico in the first year without the enhanced credits.
- Collins Voted Against a Move to Pay Airport Security Officers in March 2026. On March 21, 2026, five weeks into the Homeland Security lapse, Susan Collins voted no on cloture on a Democratic motion to take up legislation fully funding the Transportation Security Administration. "The motion failed by a party-line vote of 41 to 49", The Hill reported. NBC reported that day that "More than 400 Transportation Security Administration workers have quit since a partial government shutdown" began, a lasting loss of trained screeners. The department went unfunded for 75 days, until April 30, 2026.
- Collins Voted to Confirm the Officials Who Ran the 2025 Shutdown's Layoffs, Food Aid Cutoff and Flight Cuts. Susan Collins voted to confirm Russell Vought as budget director on February 6, 2025, Brooke Rollins as agriculture secretary on February 13, 2025 and Sean Duffy as transportation secretary on January 28, 2025. During the shutdown, Vought's office pushed the roughly 4,000 mass layoffs that a judge blocked and that the reopening law later said shall have no force or effect. Under Rollins, NPR reported, "42 million Americans who participate with SNAP didn't receive the food aid they rely on" in November 2025, and her department told states they must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits after courts ordered payment. Duffy's FAA ordered flight cuts at 40 airports, and a 10 percent cut meant 3,300 canceled flights per day. These effects were transient: benefits, jobs and flights returned after the government reopened on November 12, 2025.
Susan Collins's Shutdown Votes and What They Cost Maine
- Health coverage. Maine's marketplace enrollment fell 12 percent, from 62,381 in 2025 to 54,800 in 2026, in the first year without the enhanced credits (KFF data). This loss is lasting: the credits were not renewed.
- Food aid. About 163,108 Mainers received SNAP in July 2025, according to USDA data, and their November 2025 benefits were held up in the shutdown along with those of the 42 million Americans who did not get food aid on time. The delay was transient: benefits were paid after the courts and the reopening law acted.
- Lost output. CBO estimated that between $7 billion and $14 billion (in 2025 dollars) will not be recovered from the 2025 shutdown.
Frequently Asked Questions About Susan Collins on Government shutdowns
What is Susan Collins's record on government shutdowns under Trump?
Susan Collins voted seven times in September and October 2025 against a stopgap that would have made the enhanced health insurance credits permanent. After the credits expired, average marketplace deductibles reached a record high of $3,786 in 2026, KFF found, as many enrollees moved to cheaper plans. In the 2026 Homeland Security lapse, she voted against a move to fund the TSA while screeners worked without pay.
How did Susan Collins vote on the health care credits during the 2025 shutdown?
Susan Collins voted against S. 2882, the Democratic stopgap with a permanent extension of the enhanced premium tax credits, on September 30, 2025 and six other days, and voted instead for the House stopgap without an extension. KFF later found that 27% of the drop in 2026 sign-ups came from people with incomes just above the subsidy cliff, who had made up 3 percent of plan selections in 2025.
Did Susan Collins vote to pay TSA officers during the 2026 Homeland Security shutdown?
Susan Collins voted no on March 21, 2026 on advancing a Democratic motion to take up full TSA funding, which failed 41 to 49. More than 400 TSA workers had quit since the lapse began in February 2026.
Last updated: 2026-10-25