Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski criticized President Donald Trump’s administration in a tele-town hall, responded to questions from concerned constituents and promised to stand up for Alaskans in challenging recent actions.
“There is much that is in play right now that we are tracking very carefully. Some of it are things that Alaskans feel pretty favorably about,” Murkowski said at the start of the over hourlong town hall on Wednesday, referring to resource development. But she acknowledged the frustration and concern: “Then there’s other things that we’re hearing, where people are anxious, they’re confused, they’re angry, they’re really ticked off. In fact, they don’t know where to turn.”
Alaska is one of the states most dependent on federal funding, she noted, and the sudden firing of federal workers is hitting the state hard.
“These are our friends, these are our neighbors. These are people that are doing good work for us,” Murksowski said. “Determinations appear to be, for the most part, indiscriminate, some on probationary (status) but we’re seeing more that there are beginning to be, just across the board cuts. … This is not how we treat any of our workforce. It’s not how we treat our federal employees. They deserve better.”
Federal employees have been fired in Alaska, across agencies including the U.S. Forest Service and Park Service, and many more are expected. Murkowski said on Feb. 14 that more than 100 had been fired; the current total is unknown.
“You do not treat people in this manner who have been good public servants,” she said. “There is a way and a manner that we can address, if we feel that we have a bloat in our system or redundancy in our system, or inefficiency, we can address that. But you do it with respect and dignity towards people, and we are just not seeing that.
“And that’s a shame.”
She acknowledged that Alaskans hold a wide range of political views, from calling on her to “raise hell” and oppose every cabinet nominee, to supporting President Trump’s “right sizing” of the government led by the “Department of Governmental Efficiency,” or DOGE, an arm of the White House that is not a federal department, and billionaire Elon Musk.
“I have to figure out how, as your representative here in Washington, D.C., how I can have a relationship with people in the Trump administration. I need to be able to have people answer my phone call, respond to my texts and help us out. I did that just this weekend with Secretary Kennedy,” she said, referring to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “He committed to me that there were going to be no reductions at IHS, the Indian Health Services, on his watch. It was important to have that line of communication.”
Over 1,000 constituents tuned in to the town hall, with many more saying they tried to dial in and couldn’t get through, Alaska Public Media reported.
“What steps specifically can you take … to defend and uphold the Constitution in the crisis that we are in now?” asked a caller identified as Chrisanne, from Sitka, referring to the U.S. Congress checking Trump’s executive powers. “Time is of the essence. How can I, as your constituent, support you in taking some really bold, or bolder steps?”
Murkowski said she takes her oath of office, and to uphold the Constitution very seriously, and the legislative branch’s role in the balance of powers. “So if the president, for instance, should seek to withhold federal funding that has already been authorized and appropriated, that is, that violates the Budget Act. It violates the Impoundment Act and it cannot be allowed to stand.”
“It requires speaking out. It requires saying, ‘That violates the law,’ ‘That violates the authorities of the executive,’” she said, adding that those violations would be challenged and decided in the courts.
“The courts right now are the ones that are probably the busiest. I think there are no fewer than 75 different lawsuits that have been filed since the beginning of the new administration about different aspects of these executive orders and the DOGE activities,” she said.
“So we have an obligation to the Constitution, the oath that we swore to defend the Constitution, but are also our authorities and our rules in it,” she said. “So it requires speaking out and standing up. And that requires, again, more than just one or two Republicans. It requires us as a Congress to do so.”
Callers expressed fear and concern with potential cuts to social service programs, like Medicaid, Social Security and food aid programs.
“That is something that we are absolutely watching and monitoring,” she said, and while some U.S. House Republicans have called for cuts to Medicaid, the Trump administration has not so far. “The president has made it very clear as recently as yesterday, and then Vice President Vance was in front of our lunch today, and kind of reaffirmed it on behalf of President Trump, that he has no intention of impacting Social Security, Medicaid or Medicare,” she said.
When asked about the role of billionaire Elon Musk and his extraordinary executive authorities, Murkowski said he is a “special government employee,” appointed by the executive branch, and not confirmed by the Senate. “You’re right, Musk is not somebody that we, the Senate, has welcomed in.”
“He’s not a person who has really been part of the federal government system,” she said. “It’s got to be just kind of the height of irony that the world’s wealthiest person is one who is making the overall decisions about whether or not people in Anchorage, Alaska, have a job. I think you can tell I’m not particularly pleased with what we’ve seen with this delegation of authority.”
She repeated that Musk is also required to follow the law.
“He doesn’t have unfettered authority, just as the president himself does not have unfettered authority, and so Elon Musk also has to follow the laws,” she said.
Murkowski also criticized Trump’s recent about-face rescinding support for Ukraine, which she called a “radical switch.” She said she continues to support Ukraine in the war against Russia.
“It is wrong to suggest that somehow or other Ukraine started this war, or asked for this war,” she said. “It is clear for all the world to see and to know that Putin invaded Ukraine and started the war, and they did it in Ukraine, just as they did with the invasion of Crimea. And over this time, Ukraine has fought valiantly. They have defended their sovereignty. They clearly have earned their right to sit at the negotiating table,” she said.
Murkowski thanked constituents for joining the tele-town hall and urged people to continue to submit questions and concerns to her office. “It’s kind of rough and choppy out there,” she said. “My commitment to you is to be as responsive as I can. … I can better represent you, when I hear directly from you.”
