What Sullivan isn’t doing for America

"I voted" stickers at a Juneau polling station on Aug. 18, 2026. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Independent)

By Rich Moniak

During a candidate forum last week, Sen. Dan Sullivan repeatedly tried to portray Democrat Mary Peltola as beholden to “far-left politicians who for decades have worked to crush our state.”

Well, it shouldn’t be hard for Alaskan voters to recognize Sullivan is beholden to a president whose only allegiance is to a grossly exaggerated image of himself.

Before I get to that, let me shed a little light on Peltola’s record during her term in the U.S. House of Representatives. She voted against her party 28 percent of the time. Sullivan and Sen. Lisa Murkowsi needed her help to convince President Joe Biden to approve the Willow oil development project in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska. A year later, the three of them put out a joint press release stating their strong opposition to the administration’s efforts to restrict further development in the NPR-A.

On the other hand, Sullivan’s voting record in Congress shows a complete lack of independence. To remain loyal to President Donald Trump, he’s compromised traditional Republican values regarding deficit spending, free trade, states’ rights and more. As I wrote in July, his vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general undermines his work to combat the scourge of sexual assault.

And by condoning the war Trump started with Iran without the consent of Congress, Sullivan willfully forfeited his claim to be “a leading voice on foreign policy and a strong national defense advocate.”

In a long interview following the summit between Trump and Vladimir Putin last summer, Sullivan bragged about America being “ally rich” without mentioning how Trump’s tariffs and fickle approach to Russia’s war against Ukraine had been straining those relationships. They went downhill further after Trump didn’t consult our allies before going to war with Iran.

Sullivan, who has correctly called Putin a dangerous, paranoid dictator, said Russia’s only allies were Belarus, China, and North Korea. He forgot to include Iran which supplied missiles and drones that Russia used against Ukraine.

This week, on an invitation from Trump, Russia’s finance minister attended the G20 summit in North Carolina. And Putin acknowledged Russia’s support for Iran’s war against the U.S.

The week also brought the resignation of Army Secretary Dan Driscoll. He and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had been battling each other for months. In April, Hegseth fired General Randy George, the Army’s Chief of Staff. Prior to that he fired more than a dozen high-ranking officers without cause. He’s reportedly blocking promotions of others.

During a contentious debate three years ago, Sullivan defended some of the officers who were fired. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) was blocking their promotions over an issue unrelated to the military’s mission. Sullivan said it was “hugely disruptive to readiness” and sent “the wrong message” to Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“They are loving it,” he added later. “How dumb can we be, man?”

That remark captured how Congress has become a stage for stupid theater. And it served as an acknowledgment of how our enemies—and allies—may be observing the disintegration of American democracy in a manner Abraham Lincoln warned about almost two centuries ago. “If destruction be our lot” he said, “we must ourselves be its author and finisher.”

The Senate’s confirmation of Hegseth as Secretary of Defense nudged the country further in that direction. The legendary conservative columnist George Will argued there was no chance the former Fox News talk show host was among the top 10,000 prospects for the job. Sullivan could have been the one vote needed to keep him from undermining the military to a level not seen since the war in Vietnam.

It may have even prevented the war with Iran that Trump keeps declaring over right before a new round of bombing begins. Last week, he posted a “Mission Accomplished” graphic that was soon followed by renewed hostilities that were real and another post from him of “Kharg Island being blown to smithereens!!!” that was both a fake video and fake news.

And Sullivan can’t say how dumb that makes America look to the rest of the world.

That doesn’t matter to his supporters. They want voters thinking about what he does for Alaska.  Or as Frank Bergstrom’s recent endorsement rhetorically asks “What has Senator Sullivan done for you?”

Let me answer by paraphrasing the most memorable line of President John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech in 1961. Ask not what Sen. Sullivan can do for you — ask what he should be doing for our country.

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