‘We are all afraid’: Murkowski speaks at nonprofit summit in Anchorage, addresses cuts, tariffs

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, spoke at a summit for Alaskan nonprofits on Monday in Anchorage, calling for greater action from Congress in resisting executive action from the Trump administration on tariffs, recent federal cuts and litigation over those actions.

“We are all afraid,” Murkowski said, taking about a 10-second long pause. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell ya — I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”

Murkowski has been especially vocal in her comments about President Trump and how his actions could impact the country.

She was interrupted multiple times by applause from the audience.

“We in Congress have a responsibility and an obligation,“ Murkowski said during her session. ”It’s called checks and balances, and right now we are not balancing like we need to as the Congress.”

Murkowski also talked at length about her concerns that the judicial branch was targeted as being biased.

“We are seeing the courts as being viewed as more and more partisan,” Murkowski said.

She discussed recent tariffs placed upon foreign nations by President Trump and the impact that has on Alaska. Murkowski said one of the biggest impacts for the state will be on the seafood and mining industries.

“We send a lot of product to China, we get a lot of it back from China,” Murkowski said. “So this is something I think that’s going to be very significant to us and where there is a great deal of concern.”

For the mining industry, Murkowski said it could impact equipment and machinery sales, and specifically transactions with Canadian companies.

“You have Canadian companies, oftentimes that are our mining partners, the implications there,” she said. “So you’re going to see it on our resource side certainly. What I’m hearing from just the average Alaskan in the airport is ‘What is it going to mean to me just for the price of consumer goods?’”

On the topic of federal cuts and the budget goals outlined by the Trump administration, Murkowski said they are still in the midst of appropriations discussions. She specifically referred to the recent closure of the regional office that oversees federally funded Head Start programs in Alaska.

“I think when you have programs like Head Start that are viewed very favorably, not just those of us here in Alaska who see the value, but around the country we will, we will do the job that that Congress has defined for us, which is to to do the appropriations,” Murkowski said. “But we’ve also got to get a bill that’s going to be signed by the President.”

In reference to the President’s budget, Murkowski said during her session that Congress has “no idea what it’s going to look like.” According to Murkowski, they’re not anticipating it until approximately the last week of May, which “sometimes causes all kinds of problems and issues” within appropriations.

Overall, the senator emphasized the need for engagement between Congress and the current presidential administration.

“Sometimes it’s easy, particularly when things are so turbulent and really very, very chaotic right now, you want to be able to blame somebody else, but we cannot,” Murkowski said. “Congress has ownership in this, and this is where I say it’s sitting down with our colleagues to say, ‘We have a role here too.’ We just can’t say, ‘Well, we’ll let the courts sort it out.’ We’ve got to step it up.”

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