30 Sep Maverick of the Week: 5 Members Who Broke From Their Caucus

Maverick of the Week: 5 Members Who Broke From Their Caucus

Week of 2026-09-30. Drawn from official Congress.gov roll-call records.

The defectors

Out of every recorded roll-call vote in the past seven days where the Democratic and Republican caucuses split, these members were most likely to vote with the opposite caucus rather than their own:

1. Susan M. Collins (R-Maine, senate) — broke from caucus on 3 votes this week. Example: on 2026-09-29, voted Yea on SJRes197 while their caucus majority voted Nay.
2. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania, senate) — broke from caucus on 3 votes this week. Example: on 2026-09-29, voted Nay on SRes852 while their caucus majority voted Yea.
3. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky, senate) — broke from caucus on 2 votes this week. Example: on 2026-09-29, voted Yea on SRes852 while their caucus majority voted Nay.
4. Maria Cantwell (D-Washington, senate) — broke from caucus on 2 votes this week. Example: on 2026-09-28, voted Nay on On the Amendment S.Amdt. 6760 to S.Amdt. 6776 to S. 4668 (No short title on file while their caucus majority voted Yea.
5. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri, senate) — broke from caucus on 2 votes this week. Example: on 2026-09-28, voted Yea on On the Amendment S.Amdt. 6760 to S.Amdt. 6776 to S. 4668 (No short title on file while their caucus majority voted Nay.

Why this matters

Cross-caucus voting is one of the cleanest indicators of a member’s willingness to break from party leadership when conscience, district, or coalition demands it. It’s not a left-right axis — it’s a caucus-discipline axis. See methodology for how we compute this.

What we don’t show

We don’t classify why a member broke from their caucus. The reasons can range from principled dissent to district pressure to procedural maneuvering. We surface the data; you bring the interpretation.

Sources: Congress.gov roll-call records. About Purple Voice.