The secret life of Sen. Dan Sullivan
- Rich Moniak
- 20 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Rich Moniak
Sen. Dan Sullivan doesn’t like being portrayed as a weak-kneed politician. So when asked if he’d ever be willing to say no to President Donald Trump, he said when the administration does things he doesn’t like, he’ll sometimes “beat them up in public.”
The national news media would have covered those stories if that was true. Just like they do when Sen. Lisa Murkowski stands up to Trump. But not one Alaska news organization has ever reported Sullivan doing that.
As I wrote a year ago, Sullivan has no problem punching down.
In 2023, Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) had been a one-person barrier to all military promotions. For 10 months he had blocked Senate confirmation of Navy Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield to serve as the U.S. military senior representative on the NATO Military Committee. During a widely reported Senate debate in Nov. 2023, Sullivan vigorously defended Chatfield’s record and insisted the Senate needs “to confirm her right now.” But he said absolutely nothing when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired her last April.
And he hasn’t defended any of the other military officers who were victims of the administration’s Russian-style loyalty purge.
Speaking of Russia, without directly criticizing Trump last February, Sullivan did correct him by stating the well-known fact that Vladimir Putin started its war with Ukraine. But he kept his mouth shut when Trump blamed Ukraine again in April and August. And despite trusting the administration was intent on ensuring “a sovereign, independent Ukraine with protected borders,” he didn’t criticize its 28-point peace proposal that called for Ukraine to cede some of its territory to Russia.
Sullivan knows Putin is a murderous dictator who continues to escalate the war. But he can’t bring himself to publicly criticize Trump for inviting Putin to join his newly established international Board of Peace.
On the home front, Sullivan blew a golden opportunity to publicly chastise Trump for his irresponsible justification to the killing of Renee Good last month.
"I have just viewed the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “It is a horrible thing to watch.” He accused Good of “obstructing and resisting” and “then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer.”
The clip Trump shared is proof itself that he didn’t have enough information to draw such conclusions. And other videos clearly show nothing he said was true.
But because he’s incapable of admitting he’s ever wrong, Trump doubled down after being challenged by the news media.
And Sullivan isn’t about to tell Trump he’s lying.
Or tell him he’s not always right.
“I don’t say that in a braggadocious way, but it’s true,” Trump said when bragging about a hat that declares "Trump was right about everything." It’s one thing to use a line like that during a comedian’s podcast. But to say it in a speech at the UN was another Trump-spawned embarrassment for America.
And he got a lot wrong in that speech.
Like when he said the global tariffs he imposed last year resulted in “hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into our country.” That wasn’t just a gross exaggeration. The bulk of the money going into the U.S. treasury is coming from the pockets of American businesses and consumers, not foreign exporters.
And as the U.S. Supreme Court just ruled, Trump was wrong to think he could use the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify the tariffs.
That wouldn’t have been necessary if Congress lived up to its Article 1 constitutional powers. “The deliberative nature of the legislative process was the whole point of its design,” Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in his concurring opinion. “Through that process, the Nation can tap the combined wisdom of the people’s elected representatives, not just that of one faction or man.”
Trump first responded to the ruling like a spoiled child. Then he ordered new tariffs under Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act. Some legal scholars expect that will be shot down too. Even Trump's lawyers argued it was unlawful when they defended use of the IEEPA.
It’ll take months before that question reaches the Supreme Court. In the meantime, Sullivan will continue retreating to Walter Mitty-like daydreams where he’s brave enough to speak truth to the liar in power.
• Rich Moniak is a Juneau resident and retired civil engineer with more than 25 years of experience working in the public sector.
