Murkowski fumes at Trump and Musk over memo

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Sen. Lisa Murkowski complained about the email that federal workers received over the weekend from the Trump Administration, asking them to explain what they had accomplished during the week prior on behalf of taxpayers.

Murkowski thinks that Elon Musk just isn’t up to the task of cutting government.

“If Elon Musk truly wants to understand what federal workers accomplished over the past week, he should get to know each department and agency, and learn about the jobs he’s trying to cut. Our public servants work hard to ensure that our national security is protected; that planes land safely; that forest fires do not spread to our homes; that Social Security checks arrive on time; that research for the breakthroughs needed to cure diseases like cancer and ALS continues; and much more. Our public workforce deserves to be treated with dignity and respect for the unheralded jobs they perform. The absurd weekend email to justify their existence wasn’t it,” Murkowski wrote on X/Twitter.

It was the same angry tone Alaska’s senator took last week during her phone town hall meeting with Alaskans. She is very much at war with the Trump Administration over budget cuts, federal layoffs, and the manner in which Trump is attempting to end the war in Ukraine.

“If we feel that we have a bloat in our system, or redundancy in our system or inefficiency, we can address that. But you do it with respect and dignity towards people, and we are just not seeing that,” Murkowski said of budget cuts. “You do not treat people in this manner.”

Over the weekend, the Department of Government Efficiency, led by Musk, sent letters to federal employees, asking them to explain what work they had done the prior week. The goal is to determine if federal workers are even checking their emails, in an effort to determine how many “ghost” employees may be on the payroll. Failure to respond to the memo may be justification for presuming the employee is resigning, Musk said.

Murkowski thought that approach was “absurd” and didn’t see why federal workers have to “justify their existence.”

122 COMMENTS

  1. I am absolutely convinced of it now – Beavis & Butthead are the illegitimate children of her and Chuck Schumer.

  2. The private sector does this all the time. In fact if we don’t produce we get shown to the door. So lovely Lisa fume all you want. The American tax payers deserve production. My dad’s old saying (No work No eat). Of course this is something you would not understand Bellied up to the trough.

      • You claim to have been an oil executive, but you never had to lay anyone off or fire them? You never once questioned what your employees were doing, or did job reviews?

        • Yes. Yes. Yes. But it wasn’t done in this way. Everything was face-to-face, announced in advance, and done using information from annual performance reviews. In addition, those who wanted to leave were always taken first.

          You don’t make people send a 5-point email and then run it through a DOGEy algo written by a guy named Big Balz. The DOGE approach is intended to be insulting, capricious, and to troll people who are not in any position to push back.

          You wouldn’t like to be treated this way, Steve-O.

          • I’ve worked at more than a few jobs, all performance reviews are done differently. I’ve had to write my own review, the review of those who I was responsible for supervising, and I’ve reviewed supervisors performance to their supervisors. I’ve seen people who resign asked to leave immediately and some asked to stay for months. I’ve fired people and escorted them off of the facility, I’ve let people go that were given weeks to finish their job collect their things and go. Sometimes these things are done face to face, other times they have been done by email.

            But the hysteria that you and others leftists are showing is all performance art and has nothing to do with what is actually happening, it’s all phony outrage because the gravy train is coming to an end.

            People who do not show up to work and can’t list five things that they accomplished in a weeks time should not be paid for doing work, full stop. If you were anywhere near a position that actually employed people you would understand that. People who work are paid based upon performance, they aren’t paid for not showing up and doing nothing.

            Regarding my worklife, the way I like to be treated is like an adult who is capable of doing the job I am paid to do as a professional. I expect to be held to account for what it is I am being paid to do. I also expect the same from those I work with, those who work for me, and those I work for. I don’t get asked once in a lifetime to list five things I accomplished in the last week. I gladly list my accomplishments on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis because I am a producer not a user.

          • No one cares Dog, the feds have been stealing our money and abusing us for decades…no…one…cares.

            Your argument is so petty and juvenile in comparison to the atrocities done to We the People.

            You must be one of those lazy puke feds who doesn’t want to be held accountable.

      • Awww.. dog, just because the Carny doesn’t audit and review its workers, doesn’t mean the rest of the world does not have standards.

      • Go watch the first 8-10 minutes of Glengarry Glen Ross, and then grow some cajones and some thicker skin. Otherwise, quit your whining here all the time. Nobody likes a whining dog.

  3. I guess she doesn’t want to have to justify her existence by telling us how she is refusing to represent us in the Senate. Go figure.

  4. How is it these federal employees think they are special??? It’s mind boggling to me. It’s a JOB. Produce something or hit the road.

    We never heard all this crying from federal employees when oil patch workers or mine workers were getting laid off in mass.

    • I worked on the slope for over 20 years. Barely a hitch went by that there were not lay off or rumors of lay off.
      Maybe the email was to find out if there was even anyone in the positions that was being paid for.

  5. Let’s see if Federal workers need to
    “Justify their existence “
    When their budget comes around ! !

    We The People

  6. When do we get to read an article relating to Murkowski actually doing the job her constituents sent her back to DC to do?

  7. “Our public servants work hard to ensure that our national security is protected; that planes land safely; that forest fires do not spread to our homes; that Social Security checks arrive on time; that research for the breakthroughs needed to cure diseases like cancer and ALS continues; and much more.”
    -Lisa M.

    You don’t need to be a genius to see that they have failed at all of this. More so during the last 4 years. Cut it all. Cut all the bloated government. We can do bad all by ourselves.

  8. Murkowski is personally offended by such a memo because should wouldn’t be able to come up with bullet points for five beneficial things she has done in the last several terms in office, much less last week. Cry, cry, cry, then just go away, Lisa.

  9. Easy way to find out Lisa. If they are not in their office on Friday afternoon– -They are Fired. Lisa Quit EXPECTING the People in Food Production , Transportation Construction, Manufacturing, Tech, Energy etc, etc, etc. from having to carry the RESPONSIBILITY of keeping ALL FEDERAL WORKERS warm, happy, pensioned, lots of no work holidays, extra days off, vacation pay etc,etc,etc—and not be at their job on FRIDAY AFTERNOON, and still Charge all the Real Workers for their ABSENCE —AWOL.One last thing Lisa, Cut the Budget and Debt—Do Your Job Lisa.

  10. Trump isn’t the problem, lisa is. She’s been there in DC for a considerable amount of time and what a mess the federal government is.
    Blame Lisa and biden!

  11. In my experience, working construction management in a wide variety of areas in AK907, we always had to account for daily and/or weekly progress. Maybe(?), now that we understand the extent of the “waste – fraud – abuse – grift – theft – lying – debauchery” we should also ask our elected leaders to provide similar progress reports, to ensure we’re getting the biggest bang for our tax dollars, something that they’re supposedly shepparding on our behalf? Seems reasonable in this day of transparency, and if they balk at the request – demand, might prove that they have something to hide and maybe not the best fiduciary that we deserve.

  12. Maybe Musk should ask the Senior Senator to fill out one of those questionnaires as well. Just passing on a friends comment.
    Cheers, A.M.Johnson-Ketchikan

  13. Maybe federal workers need a wake-up call; as persons working in the private sector DO require justifying their jobs…particularly retaining them! Seems logical to most of us who understand capitalism & entrepreneurship, viz. working within the engine of capital creation.

  14. Where was Murkowski when Biden cut oil lease sales, locked up Alaska from development, cut 10,000 jobs of the Lower 48 pipeline, the attacks on Alaskans from the IRS?

  15. In other words, little Lisa wants President Trump to rely on the very same deep state the defied him in his first administration. She is literally cheering for him to fail.

  16. Once again, Lisa shows her true colors. She is counting on every federal employee and state employees vote. That’s all she cares about. What she doesn’t see is that asking people to do this simple task will help us thin out the federal payroll. Some people will take a stand that they do not have to do such a silly task and will not. And in doing so they removed from the payroll this will make them feel much better about themselves and will make me happy as well. I will not have to support them any longer with my tax dollars.

  17. Until we turn over Congress, vote them all out we’re going to continue to receive poor representation. Lisa has shown total disregard for her constituents

  18. Lisa, listen to me:
    The tide has turned, and you are about to go underwater. Listen to your dear ole dad, before you drown in government worker’s tears. You look like a fool.

  19. Historically on our planet, conflicts, in this case between “the Left” and “right”, have been most effective to Ely resolved by “blitz” approaches as the “opposition hasn’t time to plan a response. Bureaucracies are very powerful, hence, once made aware of adversarial activity, can use their bureaucratic tools to stymy attacks.

  20. Has Lame Duck Lisa ignored that Congress always could have pursued government accountability and spending responsibility?

  21. This woman (Murkowski) is so obviously corrupt. Who with even half a brain would have a problem with auditing our bloated and completely out of control corrupted government unless of course they themselves were totally on the take and about to be exposed !

  22. Workers in the private sector are required to justify their existence – why not the Federal employees????? I’m thinking that the workers classified as “non-essential” during shutdowns are still nonessential and need to be culled.
    Like most of the Assembly.

  23. She can fume and complain all she wants she’s been senator since 2002. Can somebody tell me what she has done the cost cut waste fraud abuse? I’m here to tell you, she is just another deep state senator. ?

    And the thing that she just sat by and allowed sleepy Joe to shut Alaska down! She is a terrible senator and does not represent Alaska or the United States of America.

    • Exactly, “us”…aka lazy puke fed beuaracrats who want no accountability.

      WE the People have made our decision and will keep gladly seeing you losers out the door.

  24. Yet, most public school teachers are required to turn in weekly lesson plans to their supervisors every week. It didn’t used to be that way, but in the last decade, it has become the norm. Now, it is time for some equitable treatment for those consuming our taxes.

  25. BS on everything THE WICKED WITCH OF THE NORTH has to say. Lisa – You and your cronies have had plenty of time to address the things you now say you can address. TIMES UP! America is waking up and you and your buddy Dan better catch up or get out. We know about “Bringing Home the Bacon for Alaska”. That game became over when it required our Country to belly up.

  26. 1,400 Alaskans have now lost their jobs. No consideration was employed about why they should be terminated other than that they were probationary employees.

    In the companies that I’ve run there were workers who retired, or took other employement. We needed a pipeline- the new employees- to replace the retired guys in order to keep the operation going.

    Cutting fraud, waste, and abuse is fine, but it needs to be done in an intelligent way.

    Don Young and Ted Stevens- I knew both of ’em- would not have let this happen.

    • Exactly. I’ve worked for major corporations and have seen plenty of RIFs in my time. Respectable corporations don’t do it in this way. Firing the young indeed sabotages the future, and when it comes time to hire again, good luck attracting people.

      Oh, and there’s the little thing about treating people with respect and dignity during what is certainly an extremely stressful time.

      And the final insult is watching it being done by billionaires who have never had to worry about money a day in their life, who are accountable to no one, and who sadistically persecute people who can’t fight back.

      • Respect and dignity are words and concepts you have no comprehension of at all, Dog.

        Or understanding of anything actually.

        We know you’re lying when you claim to work in a major oil company.

      • You have “seen” layoffs, but I will bet you have never been laid off, or done the laying off.
        If you had, that delusion that it can be done with respect and dignity would disappear.
        .
        I have not “seen” layoffs, I have been laid off. More than once. And, news flash, there is no possible way for it to be respectful and dignified. In fact, the employer does not care. It is a business move, and your feelings have NOTHING to do with it.

    • Look up the words probationary employee. These are commonly found in private, federal, state, and local employment positions. I knew many teachers who were pink slipped after a year of teaching because the position was probationary. Probationary employees clearly understand the terms of their employer when they accept the position. If they do not agree they should not accept the job.

    • M, Kindly cite your source for your claim that 1400 federal employees have been terminated by Trump.

      Personally, it sounds like a good start, but I’m sure it isn’t verified and it would be too soon to begin celebrating!

    • Oh yes, Uncle Ted and Don would probably be visiting every single Federally funded office in question in person. They would ask in person each employee to give their own evaluations of their jobs and their pay.

      Google has been eliminating departments left and right 7 or 8 years ago when their bankroll started to shrink. Don’t say this does not happen in the private sector when we have recent news of that happening. Who cares about their personal lives? They can learn to code.. or pick produce since that job market is opening up.

  27. Murkowski’s demand for “dignity and respect” is classic slow rolling the issue until it disappears. Anyone who has worked in government knows the waste and redundancy is endemic. If Murkowski was sincere she would facilitate the process and perhaps help those outplaced with new opportunities. Instead she circles the wagons with the hope that with time it’ll all go away. Murkowski is a perfect example of what is wrong with the system.

    • OTOH, DOGE and Trump are showing the civil service much more dignity and respect than they showed us during Harris – Biden. We are in the FO phase of FIFO. Cheers –

  28. I think that is great. I have had bosses ask me what I have accomplished during the week. It is your time to shine and let them know how important you are to the department. By the way you should be checking your emails too! She doesn’t listen to us anyway, she does as she pleases.

  29. I took a quick look at some numbers. In rough terms, the Federal government went on a seven TRILLION dollar spending orgy starting with Covid. As a member of Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Murkowski was right at the epicenter of this stuff. Some of the early efforts to shrink the size and scope of government have been inelegant and even crude. However, wailing about each and every cut as if it is the end of the Earth is sleazy – particularly when a good part of that can be traced to actions by Congress. Senator wants to pretend she is an adult on these matters but in reality she is a big part of the problem.

    • JMARK,
      in his Declaration of July 4, 1776 to the King of England, Jefferson included the below:
      ” he hath erected a multitude of offices and sent hither swarms of officiers to harrass the people and to eat out their substance”

      Trump and his henchman Elon are merely reading American Scriptures and acting accordingly.

  30. I sure hope the Governor runs for your seat, you are an embarrassment to the people of the great state of Alaska!

  31. While I do think the memo is a bit micromanaging, Murkowski must have been checked out the past number of years in regard to government (in)efficiency.

    Her words “ Our public servants work hard to ensure that our national security is protected; that planes land safely; that forest fires do not spread to our homes; that Social Security checks arrive on time; that research for the breakthroughs needed to cure diseases like cancer and ALS continues; and much more…”.

    Seriously? Our national security has been a mess such as the ongoing ‘invasion’ across our borders, then try signing up for Medicare – a convoluted confusing process no one can seem to explain clearly, especially if you only signed up for A as still working and having private insurance, then adding B later – we still haven’t accomplished that with almost four months of forms sent and long waits to talk to someone. Next, try to call someone in social security. You make an appointment, for a call. Or wait for hours with a call back. There is so much more I won’t belabor here.

    It is time for Murkowski to retire from the senate or get voted out.

  32. Lisa isn’t representing the citizens of Alaska.
    No, she is only waging her own personal little war against Trump.
    Not sure what ignited her intense personal hatred of the man, but her actions against Trump and her contempt for the will of voters that she is supposed to be representing, is borderline treasonous.
    .
    I know that I will not be alone in the next election cycle, in doing everything in my admittedly limited power….to send her packing.
    I just hope that someone serious and worthy steps up to run against her.
    It’s not good enough to get rid of bad politicians, but is a waste of time if we can’t replace them with someone better, and NO, both Joe Miller and Sarah Palin are absolutely no better than Lisa….

  33. I would ask, “why are you so against cutting government spending”? Seriously, anyone should be able to stop what they are doing and answer a simple question whether it’s a Private, State, Local or Federal job.

  34. Murkowski doesn’t see why federal workers have to justify their existence.?

    Can she justify her existence? It is clear she cannot.

  35. As someone who has worked at every level of government, the uninformed, like Lisa, would be impressed with significant number of people who possess the ability to get paid without doing much of anything. I think it’s not only a fair question but one that is long overdue. I know of a state employee who spent her last months of employ day trading because she didn’t like the new administration. I know another that spent the day working another job & resigned when asked what she was doing all day. I know yet another who spent the day organizing sports leagues. We had a commissioner under the previous governor that traveled extensively on the state’s dime with the most ridiculous rationale & always conveniently located near relatives or vacation spots. The fraud that happens inside government is just as bad as the number of people fraudulently enrolled in state welfare programs. Alaska has so many progressives in the legal department every effort at responsible stewardship by the employees that do work gets reversed. It’s a very frustrating environment to work with an unbelievable lack of accountability & even lower expectations. Public unions protect the lazy.

    • Employers at one time abused their employees. After Roosevelt made unions possible, the power of the employees has increased with each year till the employees hold power over their employers. Quality of work diminishes when you have a job for life. A conclusion could be drawn that included Unions in our present economic situation. Would it be that bad if unions were replaced with set time contracts? This could make employees more responsive.

  36. I work in private industry and am required to do this at the beginning of my week. Why shouldn’t they? I also am judged based on merit, i.e., what do I actually do that brings value to my company. Thin is what keeps me employed. This concept should be part and parcel of any job, especially any job that the public pays for. Just because someone has stayed in a bureaucratic position for years means nothing without checks and balances.

  37. Trump won AK. about 65-35 last 3 election cycles. She barely squeaked through with RCV. She is resented by the Republican Party, and doesn’t represent the will of the majority of Alaskans. Murkowski is the swamp. When her guy, Biden, canceled Keystone she didn’t fume. When her guy, Biden, hurt Alaska she didn’t fume. List of her hypocrisy is long, and now she’s fired up defending waste and fraud. Thinks it’s unfair to for the swamp to justify their paycheck. Her base is people who feed off government. Everyone else has to be productive. When a business downsizes, has layoffs, or closes, we’re told by the swamp “toughen up, adapt, learn to code, etc;”. But when Elon asks “why do we need your services?” the swamp is reeling. Murkowski’s TDS harms the entire country. If she were honorable, she would resign. Today.

  38. How do you tell the Government worker who voted for Trump? They are trying to remove the knife from their back that they stabbed themselves with.

  39. I’m a Federal employee that works on JBER and I have no issue with this request. I even made a special trip into work today to comply. ??‍♂️ That being said, in my opinion they could have done it without the threat of termination. There will be plenty of time to review and audit individual jobs for possible cuts.

    • You had to make a special trip to work? Where you are working? To give a list of the work you are doing? Did your list include the commute?

  40. Things a guilty bug would do & say before going under the microscope & getting exposed to all so busted. If you had anything in of any value you would resign immediately Lisa we don’t want you

  41. Always-wrong Princess Lisa.

    The political winds are not blowing your way, Wicked Witch of the North, they are blowing against you. Soon the MAGA tornado will drop a house on you, and good riddance.

  42. Big surprise! Of course Lisa doesn’t understand the need for Fed workers to “ justify” themselves. She believes they are entitled and accountable to no one. News flash, Lisa.. you ALL are accountable…to WE the People! Your days in office are numbered

  43. Hey Princess Lisa, what does filling out the employee questionnaire have to do with national security? Elon and DOGE have set the trap. They know exactly which employees have not shown up for 3-4 years not doing their job, paying attention to emails, (probably working a second paying job) while collecting paychecks and being reimbursed for approved expenses. DOGE likely knows which agency bosses have created fake employee positions (remember no one had to show up for work) to enrich themselves. Lisa can take her virtue signaling and stuff it.

  44. Fume fume all you want Lisa, you’ve skated along in life as Frankie set up for you. You betrayed your constituents, lied years ago about supporting the primary winner Joe Miller and wrote yourself in supported by a bunch of RINO’s, democrats and ballot harvesters in the bush!
    Fume all you want Lisa, you’re a hack, and i hope Kash and Dan take a good look at your past. Nothing to see there, I mean between your ears!

  45. Murkowski needs an unpaid leave for a thorough psych and performance evaluation,,, uh no, Lisa “you’re fired”!

  46. The good Senator says “If we feel that we have a bloat in our system, or redundancy in our system or inefficiency, we can address that.” Had you already addressed that, there would be no reason to make that comment and this wouldn’t be happening.

  47. Another example of foolishness from ‘Daddy’s Princess’. She has always had a career of being unremarkable. Three times to pass the Bar exam?!). The good news is that there is now a reliable Republican margins in the Senate so that her vote no longer is a big ‘hohum’ in the outcome. Now it’s time to get past the Murkowski dynasty in Alaska and send her home.

  48. I think she is afraid of what her employees might say

    Murkowski’s Staff Salary Comparison

    According to recent data from LegiStorm, Senator Lisa Murkowski’s staff earned an average salary of $92,454 in 2024, which is significantly higher than the average salary for Senate staff members. This figure represents a 33% increase over the average salary of other Senate staffers. This places Murkowski’s office at the top of the pay scale among all Senate offices.

    In contrast, Senator Dan Sullivan’s staff earns about 13% more than the average Senate staff member but does not reach the levels seen in Murkowski’s office. Additionally, it is noted that Florida’s two U.S. senators have some of the lowest-paid staff in the Senate, earning approximately 22.4% less than the Senate average.

  49. Well Lisa, I’m sure president Trump would welcome a face to face with you, so you can express your distain for our new Administration. I dare you! I double dare you!

  50. “Murkowski thinks that Elon Musk just isn’t up to the task of cutting government.” If this is the case, then why is she upset that Elon Musk is cutting government?

  51. It would be nice if she treated her constituents with dignity and respect, and stood for what she claimed to stand for when she sought their votes. Instead we get obvious lies and deception on a wholesale level, with a Democrat feigning behind a Republican mask. If she thinks that is normal, or that she has successfully normalized it, she has certainly managed to deceive herself.

  52. Lisa has THIRTY (30) has 30 people on her staff in Washington DC and TWELVE (12 )back here in our State. It would be great if Doge would go in and investigate the waste and corruption of all the staff of the 535 members of our US House and US Senate. Am sure we could weed out half of them and we would not notice the difference in the output of our representatives.

  53. Princess Lisa does not appear to understand having to justify your job because she was born with a silver bank in her mouth and handed her job by her father. It appears she thinks her job is just to sign you up to pay for everything, take your money and spend it-she has been there all along voting for the budgets with wasteful spending of your tax dollars as shown by Doge.

  54. I work hard and would welcome any opportunity to share that fact. Putting 5 accomplishments in bullet points on an email should take 3-5 minutes at most. Th

  55. Lisa is a classic RINO in every way. And she demonstrates her true identity each and every time shes faced with a challenge.

  56. The same folks claiming people need more “dignity and respect” are the same folks standing up for illegal aliens, violent criminals, alphabet mafia, the gender confused, and corruption. If Lisa could switch her gears and focus on her own integrity, that might provide some real dignity and respect to the Alaskans she is representing.

  57. As a teacher, I have to account for my actions each and every day. If it is required of me, why not require it of federal employees. I would love to see the federal employees in my small community account for what they do, or rather, what they DON’T do: they are never around when needed and often brag about having time to go home early for lunch and make their spouse a delicious lunch when they should have been working. I am sick of paying their wages when they produce nothing and are not held accountable for their inaction. Murkowski is a joke and a traitor. We pay her wages. We voted Trump into office. This is what we want, so shut up and submit your report or find another job. The people have spoken!

  58. By having all federal employees respond to an e-mail DOGE is determining if the employee actually exists. No response could indicate further investigation as to whether a human is actually collecting a salary or it is part of a digital bot money laundering operation. Pretty clever, if you ask me!

  59. Thank you Lisa for standing up for common sense. If there is waste or redundancy, an intelligent employer finds out where that is and cuts THAT. Not just tell every employee they might not have a job so that the good ones move on to other jobs and leave the bad ones to do the work. What idiot doesn’t even find out who is a good worker or not before firing people?! This is the way Trump bankrupted all his businesses and had to rely on Daddy’s money to keep him afloat.
    Where is ALL that money that Musk saved? Anybody here know a single thing that it has gone to that could help the common people in Alaska or anywhere else? SAVED money, I keep hearing about it but did it go to help your family? Where is it Trump supporters? Not going to lower the national debt because Trump just asked for the debt ceiling to be raised another couple trillion. Can any of you complainers about Lisa trying to be reasonable and save Alaska families please tell me WHERE the SAVED money has gone? And how it helped Alaska.

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