US Sen. Lisa Murkowski harped on President Donald Trump for deporting violent criminal Venezuelan gang members, arguing that he was violating the rule of law by continuing deportations despite a judicial order to halt them.
She stated that Congress needs to push back against what she called Trump’s illegal deportations, emphasizing that all individuals, including those here illegally and are killing Americans, are entitled to due process.
Speaking to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature, Murkowski also criticized Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for its role in reducing the size of government.
She expressed concern over what is in fact a minuscule number of job losses among the more than 15,000 federal employees in Alaska during Trump’s initial weeks in office. She described the impact as significant.
Previously, Murkowski has estimated that up to 100 federal jobs had been eliminated in Alaska, including approximately 30 positions in the US Forest Service.
This would account for less than 0.7% of the state’s federal workforce.
During the Biden administration, Murkowski did not publicly address the loss of thousands of private-sector jobs that resulted from the cancellation of oil leases on Alaska’s North Slope.
However, she made federal employment a focal point of her speech today, noting that Alaska has one of the highest per capita rates of federal workers in the country.
She acknowledged concerns about the $36 trillion national debt but did not directly link it to government spending.
Murkowski’s speech began with a list of her accomplishments, criticisms of the Trump administration, and calls for increased federal funding.
Some of the achievements she cited are more accurately attributed to Sen. Dan Sullivan, who serves on key committees such as Commerce (overseeing the FAA and fishing regulations) and Veterans Affairs (responsible for veterans’ cemeteries). Murkowski did not play a direct role in those initiatives.
Applause during her speech largely came from Democrats, while the Republican members of the Legislature remained silent.
Murkowski expressed strong support for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, criticizing the Trump administration for cutting such initiatives. She cited the cleanup of toxic Native lands in Alaska, funded through the “Environmental Justice Program,” as a positive example of DEI-related work.
Murkowski also defended Medicaid expansion, making no mention of addressing fraud within the program. She noted that 38% of Alaskans are currently enrolled in Medicaid, a figure influenced by her vote to preserve the Affordable Care Act. Her support of Medicaid brought applause from the Democrats in the room.
She briefly mentioned Sen. Dan Sullivan but did not acknowledge Rep. Nick Begich, the newest member of Alaska’s congressional delegation. By contrast, in her speech to the Legislature in 2024, she effusively praised then-Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat.
Overall, Murkowski’s speech followed a familiar structure, closely mirroring her address from 2024. This time, however, she placed less emphasis on topics such as climate change and missing and murdered Indigenous women. And this time, she spent much of her time criticizing the Trump Administration.
Last year’s speech to the joint session can be read at this link.
This year’s speech to the joint session can be watched at this link.
