Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska known for her independence, offered a rare and candid look into the emotional strain of today’s political environment. Speaking at a public event in Anchorage, Murkowski said something few in Washington have been willing to admit.
“We are all afraid,” Ms. Murkowski said, speaking at a conference in Anchorage on Monday. After pausing for about five seconds, she acknowledged to her local newspaper: “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.
Her remarks shine a light on what many lawmakers are feeling behind the scenes, writes The New York Times.
Ms. Murkowski, an independent voice in an increasingly tribal party, has been the rare Republican on Capitol Hill willing to criticize the Trump administration. After Mr. Trump in February berated President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine in the Oval Office, she warned that the United States was “walking away from our allies.”
She has routinely criticized the Department of Government Efficiency for creating a “tremendous amount of unnecessary anxiety” and for firing federal workers in her state. And Ms. Murkowski was one of only three Republicans who voted not to confirm Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Ms. Murkowski has become more outspoken in Mr. Trump’s second term, but she has long been part of a small minority in her party willing to stand up to its leader at a time when most G.O.P. lawmakers have chosen to fall in line. She was one of seven Republicans who voted in 2021 to convict Mr. Trump in his second impeachment trial, and the only one up for re-election at the time. She was also one of three Republicans who voted to support Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Ms. Murkowski has been upfront about her discomfort in a party led by Mr. Trump, whom she said she refused to vote for last year; Ms. Murkowski endorsed former Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina for president. At the time, Ms. Murkowski even considered leaving the party altogether, although she has not done so.
Murkowski has made a name for herself by breaking ranks with the GOP. She was one of only seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial in 2021. She also backed Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation and opposed Trump’s nomination of Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
Still, Murkowski says she won’t stay silent. “That’s what you’ve asked me to do,” she told her constituents. “I’m going to use my voice to the best of my ability.”
