Murkowski doesn’t belong in the GOP

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

By Rich Moniak

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate voted to advance a war powers resolution that could impose limits on President Donald Trump's ability to continue his war with Iran that’s already cost the country $29 billion. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and three other Republicans supported it. Sen. Dan Sullivan voted against it. 

According to an interview with The New York Times, Murkowski shied away from introducing a similar resolution earlier because too many Senate Republicans are intimidated by Trump’s campaign of vengeance.

I don’t know how she tolerates working alongside such cowards. And since Sullivan is one of them, I don’t understand why she endorsed his bid for reelection. 

On Sunday, Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) rationalized Trump’s control of the party. It’s fine to “disagree with President Trump,” he said, “but if you try to destroy him, you’re going to lose. Because this is the party of Donald Trump.”

That was the day after Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) finished third in the state’s Republican primary. His mistake, in Graham’s telling, was being one of the seven conscientious Republicans who voted to convict Trump of the impeachment charge related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 insurrection. 

On Tuesday, Rep. Thomas Massie lost the Republican primary in Kentucky. His offense was signing the discharge petition that forced a vote regarding the release of the Epstein files which Trump vehemently opposed.  

Also this week, Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the Senate over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.  

Paxton has been plagued by scandals. He was impeached by a vote of 121–23. Two-thirds of the state House Republican majority wanted him removed from office. What mattered to Trump though is Paxton “has always been extremely loyal to me.”

On the other hand, Trump complained that Cornyn “was not supportive of me when times were tough” and “was very late in backing me” in 2024. 

Trump’s oppressive power over party isn’t just about picking the jesters of his court. He wants their help to fleece the American taxpayers of almost three billion dollars. 

In October, he demolished the east wing of the White House without consulting Congress. It’s being replaced by a massive ballroom to host people “for grand parties" and “State Visits.” In other words, a gathering place for elites, not the working class Americans he makes believe are important to him. 

The $250 million price tag that was supposed to have “zero cost to the American Taxpayer!" is now around $1 billion. Trump wants congressional Republicans to include it in a budget reconciliation bill. 

Then there’s the settlement of the frivolous $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed against the IRS for the leak of his tax records during his first term. The judge who presided over the case expressed doubts that the parties were genuinely engaged in an adversarial dispute. That’s because Trump oversees the Department of Justice and its lawyers were representing the IRS. When it looked like the case would be dismissed, the IRS and DOJ agreed to establish a $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund.

When asked about it during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on Tuesday, Acting-Attorney General Todd Blanche refused to rule out whether any of the convicted then pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionists would be eligible for monetary compensation. 

Murkowski, who is a member of that subcommittee, said she didn’t “know enough about it to feel comfortable.” But I can’t possibly imagine she’d think such payouts were anything but fraud and abuse. 

It should bother Sullivan too. Remember, he condemned both “the horrific violence that engulfed the Capitol” and “former President Trump’s poor judgment in calling a rally on that day, and his actions and inactions when it turned into a riot.” 

But then he failed to convict Trump for inciting it. 

That’s what Murkowski meant when she told the NY Times that “in a roundabout way” the Republican Party allowed Trump to start the war with Iran without bothering to get congressional approval. Expecting them to shield him from consequences for abusing his power is learned behavior that encourages further abuse.      

But as I wrote after she endorsed Sullivan in January, she’s enabling Trump’s enablers. 

There’s no room for a conscientious lawmaker in a party that acquiesces to Trump’s demands of absolute loyalty to him. It’s long past time for her to make a clean break. And withdraw that endorsement when she walks out the door. 

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