A call for Murkowski to lead

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, addresses a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on March 31, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Rich Moniak

After years of waiting for Republicans to crash and burn under the reckless, cruel, and utterly dishonest leadership of Donald Trump, the day finally arrived. Tuesday’s rout by Democrats exceeded my highest hopes. Perhaps it will even force the Republican party to finally “be honest with the concerns” they “might hold internally and have the courage” of their convictions to “speak up.”

That was a hope Sen. Lisa Murkowski expressed way back in June 2020. It’s a story of a reluctant leader in the making. Duty to her country calls again. She’s the only Republican senator who has been honest enough about Trump’s unfitness for office to be her party’s new minority leader.

The remarks she made six years ago were in response to former Secretary of Defense James Mattis’s blistering condemnation of Trump’s leadership. Mitt Romney was the only other Republican senator who agreed with him.

Eight months later, they were two of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection and ban him from ever holding office again. Murkowski will soon be the only one of them remaining in the Senate.

The rest of them knew Trump lost the 2020 election and that he was absolutely wrong to try to overturn it. But they were afraid to upset him and his loyal supporters.

In a way, Trump is right to blame Republicans for the beating they took this week. And for blaming Fox News. They’ve been acting like parents who refuse to hold their child accountable for lying, cheating, and hurting others. They not only helped Trump mislead Americans about the election six years ago. Since he returned to office, they’ve let him get away with undermining our democratic institutions, the rule of law, and our alliances with democratic countries around the world. On Tuesday, it all finally caught up to them. 

America needs two healthy political parties to mitigate the damage Trump has done. Yes, Democrats have their own work to do. But Republicans need to stop letting Trump get away with lying about the 2020 election. Our allies won’t be able to trust America again until they acknowledge that their mistake ultimately gave him a path back the White House. And we’ll be setting up our children and grandchildren for failure if we let his worst lies settle into history for them to fight over during their adult years.

And because Trump has the power to further damage our democracy, the work must not wait until he leaves the White House 

There are positive signs Republican senators are ready to stand up to him. After winning his race for reelection, South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds cautiously argued the election was a referendum on Trump. But he followed with words of appeasement to Trump’s fragile ego which doubled as an excuse for shrinking away from his constitutional duties.

Murkowski’s record isn’t perfect. She hasn’t always put the country’s interests ahead of her party’s. But far more often she was guided by the truth and her conscience. I’m sure she earned the utmost respect of her colleagues every time she held her ground while they let Trump bully them into submission.

Electing her minority leader comes with a cost. It would be seen as an acknowledgment that she was right all along. And it will serve as a clear indication to the party’s base that they’ll be pushing back against Trump much harder than Rounds implied. That could negatively affect the reelection chances of those who will be on the ballot in two years. 

But avoiding those possible consequences would compound the mistakes they already made.

Democrats must come to terms with a different uncomfortable reality. According to exit polling by the Associated Press, a sizable majority of Americans still doesn’t trust them to govern. They’re in no position to pass legislation without Republican support like they did in 2021 and 2022.

I recognize the odds of Murkowski becoming minority leader are stacked against her. But declining to seek the position would be a mistake. She is the conscience her party needs to properly act as a check on power during the last two years of Trump’s presidency. And in that role, she’ll better be able to help Democrats help Republicans do the right thing.

• Rich Moniak is a Juneau resident and retired civil engineer with more than 25 years of experience working in the public sector.