Lisa Murkowski is often alone among Senate Republicans in publicly criticizing President Donald Trump’s administration. But back home in Alaska, the Republican senator says her constituents — most of whom voted for Trump — are concerned and unhappy with his approach to government.
“I do feel like I’m shouldering the concerns from many Alaskans that have stopped me, that have shared their worries, whether it’s reduction in forces, cuts to grants, impacts that we’re seeing from some of the abrupt activities here in Washington, D.C.,” she said in an hour-long interview with Alaska Public Media’s Lori Townsend on the “Talk of Alaska” radio show.
“I’m hanging in there, but I could use a little better sleep,” the senator said.
Murkowski has easily been the Senate Republican most willing to publicly hammer the Trump administration in its first 100 days. She’s such an outspoken detractor of the administration that she recently said at an event in Alaska that she fears retaliation: “I’m oftentimes very anxious, myself, about using my voice, because retaliation is real.”
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On Tuesday, she laid out concerns ranging from potential Medicaid cuts, reductions in force at key agencies in Alaska like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and what she sees as the legislative branch ceding its authority to the White House.
“I’m hearing concerns on so many different levels that I feel my job is to acknowledge that anxiety, and then when you acknowledge it there’s a responsibility to address it,” she said.
One example from earlier this year was over DOGE staffers having access to citizens’ personal data and records. Murkowski called the access “shockingly concerning” and said her Republican colleagues privately raised alarm bells before the courts intervened.
“You have seen actions that have been stopped, but they should never have started in the first place,” she said.
“That is not who we are as a country,” she added. “We can’t do that.”
Murkowski said that she and her office are in dialogue with Trump’s cabinet secretaries and she’s made her opposition to certain policies known directly. In one case, said she recently raised concerns about spending cuts to Americorps, which has a significant footprint in Alaska, to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
Murkowski also indicated that she would continue to buck her party, at least sometimes, in the Senate. She said she will vote against the SAVE Act, a House Republican-approved bill that would crack down on voter-identification requirements. And while she supports deficit-reduction efforts, Murkowski said she would watch that the cuts in Congress’ reconciliation package “do not disproportionately impact and harm Alaskans,” specifically naming Medicaid cuts.
Murkowski called on her fellow lawmakers to reassert congressional authority on policies like tariffs and appropriations.
“As a lawmaker, I’m going to demand that we act on this,” Murkowski said of appropriations, “That we not relinquish our authority as the legislative branch and give the power to the executive to basically neuter the work that we do in the Congress.”
“It’s going to be a battle between the legislative and executive branch,” she said.
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Riley Rogerson is a reporter at NOTUS.
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