Washington, D.C.’s Candidate — Not Colorado’s.

See how Bennet votes.

Michael Bennet has voted to confirm more of Donald Trump’s nominees than almost any other Democrat in the U.S. Senate. From those pushing to sell public lands to those attacking food assistance, Bennet’s stamps of approval to Trump’s enablers supported an administration actively working to dismantle our Colorado values.

By supporting Trump’s radical personnel choices – even when other senators and advocates saw the dangers – Bennet made a choice and gave this administration support and encouragement it didn’t deserve. Where Bennet later recognized such a vote was a mistake – like for Energy Secretary Chris Wright – the key question is: What led him to support such a nominee in the first place? In supporting Chris Wright, Bennet disregarded warnings from respected groups like the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters.

And where Bennet stands by his votes for those harming Coloradans – like Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins – the key question is: Why?

Here are 7 of the nearly 200 Trump nominees Bennet voted to confirm:

Kevin McAleenan, CBP Commissioner

Michael Bennet voted to confirm Kevin McAleenan as Trump’s Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the first Trump Administration. McAleenan became one of the most vocal proponents of Trump's family separation policy and was among three Department of Homeland Security officials who recommended the policy – even overseeing a "trial run" in El Paso beginning in the summer of 2017. When early reports surfaced of families being separated, CBP – under McAleenan’s leadership – claimed they were isolated incidents based on individual "prosecutorial discretion" rather than a coordinated test of a new national strategy.

Once he was confirmed as CBP commissioner, McAleenan advocated for and implemented the "Zero Tolerance" policy that prosecuted all border crossers, resulting in thousands of family separations.

• Architect of family separation: McAleenan wrote that the Trump administration’s best option to address illegal border crossings was to “direct the separation of parents or legal guardians and minors held in immigration detention so that the parent or legal guardian can be prosecuted.” 

• Deaths on his watch: During McAleenan’s tenure, two children – 7-year-old Jakelin Caal Maquin and 8-year-old Felipe Gomez Alonzo – died in CBP custody. McAleenan failed to notify Congress of the first death within 24 hours as required by law.

• Use of force against asylum seekers: Under his leadership, CBP agents fired tear gas across the border at asylum seekers, including toddlers.

Bennet voted for Kevin McAleenan to head Customs and Border Protection.

Brooke Rollins, Agriculture Secretary

Michael Bennet voted to confirm Brooke Rollins as agriculture secretary despite her well-known, extreme record shaped by leading far-right MAGA think tanks that prioritized corporate interests and culture wars over public health, safety, and working people.

As agriculture secretary, Rollins has sought to withhold funding for food assistance and taken actions that harmed Colorado, including: 

• Trying to force 600,000 Coloradans to go hungry: Rollins tried to cut SNAP food benefits – also known as food stamps – from 600,000 Coloradans during the government shutdown in late 2025, which would have had devastating consequences for families in need in Colorado. She also sought to deprive 600,000 Coloradans of food assistance by requiring Colorado to meet an impossible to satisfy audit. In both cases, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser sued to protect Colorado against her illegal actions.

• Holding school lunches hostage: Rollins attached extreme, far-right "strings" to funding for federal school meals, effectively threatening to pull the plug on school lunches for hundreds of thousands of Colorado children as a bargaining chip for the Trump administration's far-right agenda.

• Firing Forest Service workers Colorado relies on: Under Rollins’ leadership, at least 90 U.S. Forest Service workers in Colorado were fired, significantly weakening the state's ability to prevent wildfires and conduct search-and-rescue efforts.

Bennet voted for Brooke Rollins to be agriculture secretary. Bennet still says that he stands by his vote for Rollins – even after the actions detailed above. But he nonetheless tries to take credit for Weiser’s actions to protect Colorado from her harmful actions without acknowledging his support for her.

Doug Burgum, Interior Secretary

Notably, Burgum has:

• Fired hundreds of National Parks Service workers: Under Burgum, over 750 national park employees were laid off nationwide by March 2025 – and Rocky Mountain National Park was among the hardest hit, losing 12 full-time staff members.

• Prioritizing oil over conservation: Burgum signed orders to boost drilling on public lands and repealed rules that gave solar and wind energy preferential treatment on federal lands.

• Threatened Colorado national monuments: Burgum ordered the review of all national monuments – including the Colorado National Monument, Browns Canyon, and seven others in Colorado – to identify opportunities for oil, gas, or mining development.

Bennet voted for Doug Burgum to be interior secretary.

Michael Bennet voted to confirm Doug Burgum to oversee our national parks and public lands. As Trump’s interior secretary, Burgum is dismantling environmental safeguards to enrich fossil fuel interests, gutting Biden-era climate and conservation rules, opening millions of acres to drilling, and firing hundreds of National Park staff – all while forcing parks to operate while dangerously understaffed. 

Sean Duffy, Transportation Secretary

Michael Bennet voted to confirm Sean Duffy as transportation secretary. In office, Duffy has furthered the Trump administration’s mass deportation agenda, undermined electric vehicle infrastructure funding, and has abandoned critical airline passenger protections, ending a plan to require airlines to pay travelers when their flights are delayed or cancelled. 

Notably, Duffy has:

• Helped lead the MAGA deportation crackdown: As secretary, Duffy politicized transportation funding intended for individual states, attempting to withhold billions of dollars in critical funding intended for roads, bridges, and highways if state leaders did not cooperate with ICE.

• Sided with airlines over travelers: Duffy revoked a Biden administration rule that was championed by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser to hold airlines accountable for delayed or cancelled flights. The rule required airlines to pay cash compensation when travelers’ flights were significantly delayed or cancelled, but Duffy ended it, letting airlines get away with putting profits over customers. He has also encouraged more consolidation in this highly concentrated industry.

• Withheld $57 million in EV infrastructure funds: Duffy unlawfully suspended nearly $57 million in federal grants for Colorado’s electric vehicle charging network. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser took him to court and ensured Colorado could access these critical funds.

Bennet voted for Sean Duffy to be transportation secretary.

Doug Collins, VA Secretary

Michael Bennet voted to confirm Trump’s Veterans Affairs secretary, Doug Collins, who then tried to eliminate over 80,000 VA jobs, which veterans groups warned would gut essential services for veterans. Bennet’s fellow Democrats blasted the decision as a “shameful betrayal,” citing early layoffs, including Colorado combat veterans and social workers helping the homeless being terminated.

As VA secretary, Collins has:

• Fired Colorado VA workers: In February 2025, Colorado-based VA positions were terminated, including social workers in Denver and staff helping homeless veterans find permanent housing.

• Massively reduced the VA workforce: Collins announced plans to eliminate over 80,000 jobs within the VA, a move veterans warned would lead to longer wait times and fewer medical appointments.

• Threatened life-saving suicide prevention funding: Collins proposed redirecting the VA’s $588 million suicide prevention budget to private community programs – a move veterans groups and advocates warned would be "lethal,"  as VA-treated veterans have significantly lower suicide rates than those seeking care in the private sector.

Bennet voted for Doug Collins to be VA secretary.

Chris Wright, Energy Secretary

Michael Bennet voted to confirm Chris Wright, an oil and gas CEO and major Trump donor, as energy secretary. Wright has dismissed climate change as overblown, claimed climate change could be “positive,” and slashed key clean energy initiatives, including 24 federally funded projects and $15 billion in green energy investments. He created an illegal secret panel to produce a report that served as the basis of the Trump administration’s plans to stop regulating climate pollution and laid off scientists at Colorado’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and called tax credits for clean energy “nonsense” - all while pushing for a continued reliance on coal.

Notably, Wright has:

• Forced open dirty, expensive coal plants: As secretary, Wright issued an emergency order to keep open a coal plant in Craig, despite its scheduled retirement under Colorado law. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser has challenged the move, calling it an "illegal emergency order" that tramples on the state’s authority to manage its own energy grid and forces Coloradans to shoulder the costs of an aging, dirty facility that the plant's own operators said was no longer needed.

• Withheld $600 million in Colorado clean energy funding: The DOE, under Wright’s leadership, unlawfully terminated over $600 million in clean energy funding for Colorado. The funding cuts targeted a carbon storage hub in Pueblo led by the Colorado School of Mines and methane emission reduction research at Colorado State University.

• Mass layoffs in Colorado: In May 2025, Wright’s department oversaw deep budget cuts that led to the layoff of 114 employees at NREL, primarily at its headquarters in Golden.

At the time of his nomination, the Sierra Club stated that "the last thing we need is a climate-denying fossil fuel executive at the helm of our nation’s energy policy,”  and the League of Conservation Voters stated that "a vote for Chris Wright is a vote for the polluting oil and gas industry” – yet Bennet still voted for him anyway.  He has since stated that he “deeply” regrets his “terrible” vote.

Tom Barrack, Ambassador to Turkey

Michael Bennet was one of only seven Democrats who voted to confirm Tom Barrack to a plum position as a reward by Donald Trump for helping lead Trump’s election campaign.

Bennet voted to confirm Barrack despite having a laundry list of disqualifying controversies, including years as a predatory corporate landlord:

• Top Trump advisor: Barrack received his ambassadorship because of his relentless work to elect Donald Trump president, including serving as a senior advisor to his 2016 campaign and helping lead his Inaugural Committee.

• Corrupt foreign agent: Barrack was indicted in 2021 for allegedly acting as an unregistered agent of the United Arab Emirates to influence U.S. policy.

• Predatory corporate landlord: Between 2012 and 2017, Barrack’s company became one of the most aggressive corporate landlords in the U.S., evicting tenants for amounts as small as $49.

Bennet voted for Tom Barrack to be an ambassador.