Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, often touts bipartisanship and moderation. The word “bipartisan” appears 2,635 times on her official website. But her Democratic rival, Graham Platner, said she is a rubber stamp for the Republican president.
“If you are an independent voice, why do you vote with Donald Trump 95% of the time?” Platner said, addressing Collins during his June 9 Senate primary victory speech.
That number matches a respected analysis of senators’ votes in 2025, although Collins sided with Trump at a slightly lower rate during his first term. However, a percentage in isolation disregards that Collins has opposed Trump on some key issues.
Collins largely aligned with Trump’s position in 2025
Collins’ 2025 votes supported Trump’s position 94.6% of the time. Among Republicans, only Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska supported Trump less frequently than Collins. Republican senators supported Trump at record levels; most Republicans voted 100% with Trump.
The percentage comes from CQ Roll Call, a nonpartisan source that has examined congressional votes and presidential support since 1953.
Members’ scores reflect how often they vote in agreement with the president’s position. The analyzed votes are a fraction of all votes that Congress takes.
During Trump’s first term, Collins sided with Trump about 90% of the time.
Not all votes are equal
Congressional experts said the percentage doesn’t tell the full story about a lawmaker’s record.
Mark D. Brewer, a University of Maine political science professor, said the CQ metrics are legitimate measures and useful to voters, but they have two drawbacks.
“First, they do not register if a member fails to vote on a bill (obviously not a problem for Collins),” Brewer wrote in an email to PolitiFact, a nod to the senator reaching her historic 10,000th vote without missing a roll call vote. “Second, and more important, they treat all measures that the president has taken a position on the same. Obviously some bills matter more to a president than do others, but that is not accounted for here.”
Collins has taken some high-profile votes against Trump. In 2026, she sided with Democrats to block a nearly $1.8 billion weaponization fund for Trump allies. In April, she voted in support of a resolution directing the removal of U.S. armed forces from hostilities against Iran.
In 2025, Collins was one of three Republican senators who voted against Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. Collins said she supported extending tax relief for families and small businesses, but primarily opposed the legislation because of “the harmful impact it will have on Medicaid, affecting low-income families and rural health care providers like our hospitals and nursing homes.”
Weeks later, Trump said on Truth Social: “Republicans, when in doubt, vote the exact opposite of Senator Susan Collins. Generally speaking, you can’t go wrong.”
She opposed Trump during his first term on some major votes. After the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Collins voted to convict Trump on an impeachment charge. She said his actions interfered with the peaceful transition of power and were an abuse of power.
As Senate Appropriations Committee chair, Collins has the power to shape federal spending. During Trump’s current term, Collins opposed $1 billion in White House ballroom funding and objected to the administration’s proposed cuts for biomedical research.
Bipartisan analysis is another way to measure her record
Another useful metric is the Bipartisan Index Rankings, a partnership of the Lugar Center and Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy. The index measures the frequency with which a lawmaker co-sponsors bills offered by the other party and how often they attract or recruit co-sponsors from the other party for their own bills. The more often lawmakers collaborate with members of the other party on bills, the higher their score.
Over the last 13 years, Collins has ranked first on the index among Republicans.
These analyses don’t capture other ways senators can influence outcomes on measures that never reach a vote.
In 2025, the White House withdrew its nomination of Dave Weldon as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention hours before his Senate hearing. In a statement to The New York Times, Weldon, a former Florida congressman, blamed Collins and Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La.
Collins said she “had some reservations, but I certainly had not reached a final judgment.”
Our ruling
Platner said Collins votes with Trump “95% of the time.”
That was a reference to CQ’s analysis of her votes in 2025. During Trump’s first term, she sided with Trump on about 90% of votes.
Focusing on this percentage alone omits that Collins has opposed Trump on some key measures.
We rate this statement Mostly True.
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