Sen. Susan Collins violated the disclosure provisions of a federal financial transparency law she helped write by failing to properly disclose her husband’s purchase of a pharmaceutical company corporate bond, a NOTUS review of congressional financial disclosures indicates.
Collins’ husband, Thomas Daffron, purchased a Pfizer corporate bond worth from $15,001 to $50,000 on February 3, but Collins didn’t disclose the purchase to the Senate until Wednesday.
In an email to NOTUS, Collins’ office acknowledged the late disclosure, which is a violation of the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act, a law passed in 2012 that Collins championed.
“Tom Daffron’s investment decisions are made exclusively by a third-party advisor without his consultation,” Collins spokesperson Blake Kernen said. “Due to a delay in notification from the third-party advisor, the disclosure forms for these bonds were submitted five days behind schedule.”
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The standard fine for such a violation is $200, but the House and Senate ethics committees generally waive the fine for disclosures that are late by 30 days or less. Collins’ disclosure came five days past the 45-day deadline.
Collins is a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which has jurisdiction over the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. During recent months, Democratic and independent members of the committee, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have named Pfizer in various statements about prescription drugs and health care.
Collins is also a member of the Subcommittee on Primary Health and Retirement Security, which has jurisdiction over various health-related matters, including mental health, health care disparities and the Health Resources and Services Act.
Pfizer routinely spends more than $10 million annually on federal-level lobbying efforts, according to federal data compiled by nonpartisan research organization OpenSecrets.
Asked whether Daffron’s Pfizer bond investment represents a conflict of interest, Kernen replied, “zero.”
“Throughout her entire service in the Senate, Senator Collins has never bought, sold, or owned any individual shares of stock,” Kernen said.
Congress is actively considering legislation that would bar federal lawmakers from trading individual stocks, as many Democrats and Republicans have expressed concerns about the potential for insider trading, financial conflicts of interest and rampant disclosure-related violations of the STOCK Act.
While several bills limiting congressional stock trading have been introduced, a measure backed by Republican leadership, dubbed the Stop Insider Trading Act, has the most momentum at this point, having advanced out of a House committee in January.
Collins, who is facing one of the most competitive and high-profile re-election bids of the 2026 midterm elections, previously told the Bangor Daily News that she opposes a separate stock ban bill that passed out of a Republican-led Senate committee in July.
Since July, more than 20 federal lawmakers have reportedly violated the STOCK Act: Then-Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama and Reps. Linda Sánchez of California, Julia Letlow of Louisiana, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Lisa McClain of Michigan, Pat Ryan of New York, Sheri Biggs of South Carolina, Donald Norcross of New Jersey, Rich McCormick of Georgia, Ritchie Torres of New York, Troy Nehls of Texas, Dan Meuser of Pennsylvania, Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, George Whitesides of California, Val Hoyle of Oregon, Austin Scott of Georgia, Shri Thanedar of Michigan, Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Scott Franklin of Florida.
Other members, such as Reps. Cleo Fields of Louisiana, Dave Taylor of Ohio, Tim Moore of North Carolina and Byron Donalds of Florida, have faced scrutiny for the timing of their personal financial trades.
“Senator Collins believes that Members of Congress should not be allowed to buy or sell individual stocks unless the stock portfolio is managed by an outside advisor who makes the decisions independently and without consultation with the member,” Kernen said Thursday. “Members and their families should have safeguards like Senator Collins and her husband have.”
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