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- By Levi Rickert
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), who chairs the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, told a nonprofit summit in Anchorage earlier this week that she feels genuine concern about potential political retaliation from President Donald Trump—enough to make her hesitant to publicly criticize his tariffs, executive orders, and federal budget cuts.
“We are all afraid,” Murkowski told the audience.
"It's quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before," Murkowski added. "And I'll tell you, I am oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that's not right."
Her comments were first reported in the The Anchorage Daily News.
Murkowski is considered a moderate Republican and has previously broken ranks with her party to oppose former President Donald Trump. Ahead of the November 5, 2020, presidential election, she publicly stated that she would not vote for Trump. In early 2021, during Trump’s second impeachment trial, she voted to convict him. A conviction would have barred Trump from holding federal office again, including the presidency.
“I just regret that our party is seemingly becoming a party of Donald Trump,” she told CNN last year. When asked if she would leave it and become an independent, she said that she was “navigating my way through some very interesting political times. Let’s just leave it at that.”
Murkowski assumed the role of chair of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs at the start of the 119th Congress. Upon taking the position, she commended the committee for its tradition of bipartisan cooperation.
Since then, Murkowski has already shown a willingness to oppose Trump on issues affecting Alaska Natives. Hours after taking office, Trump signed an executive order to rename Denali, the nation’s highest peak, back to Mount McKinley, drawing immediate opposition from Murkowski, who called the move “misguided.”
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