Murkowski talks Trump, Musk & Alaska impact from possible government shutdown
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - After seeing President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s social media posts demanding Republicans back away from a bipartisan spending deal supporters say was meant to avoid a government shutdown, Sen. Lisa Murkowski told Alaska’s News Source Thursday a potential government shutdown isn’t good for anyone.
“President-elect Trump is weighing in, private citizens and some with perhaps more stroke than others, or at least a bigger megaphone than others, are weighing in as well,” Murkowski said about Musk and Trump’s comments made shortly before Trump announced “success” in coming up with a new bill to fund the government and lift the debt ceiling a day before a government shutdown.
Trump posted on social media that he was urging Congress to swiftly pass it in a vote as soon as Thursday evening.
Republicans say they have narrowed in on a tentative accord. It would keep the government running for three more months, add in disaster assistance and allow more borrowing through Jan. 30, 2027, several Republicans said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson had been fighting to figure out how to meet Trump’s sudden demands - and keep his own job.
It’s unclear if Democrats, whose votes will be needed for passage, are on board.
According to Democratic members of the House Committee on Appropriations, if Congress does not include certain provisions from the original bipartisan disaster relief package, Alaska would miss out on $136 million in disaster relief funding, including:
- $126 million for disaster relief funding, including emergency road repairs, long-term housing, infrastructure and economic recovery
- $100 million in disaster funding covering Alaska Bering Sea Snow Crab Fishery
- $100,000 for disaster-related repairs at Alaska’s National Water Level Observation Network Stations
Murkowski said the Senate is now watching the debates play out, but is keeping ”cooler heads.”
“Making sure that, again, we’re doing right by our own operations, recognizing the impact that they will have on the country,” Murkowski said. “My goal is to make sure that we don’t see a shutdown and that we are able to resolve things, so that folks can have holidays with their families and get back to work early in January and do the nation’s business.”
Trump’s Thursday change in tone came after he posted on social media Wednesday, “Our Country is far better off closing up for a period of time than it is agreeing to the things that the Democrats want to force upon us.”
On X, Musk’s social media website formally known as Twitter, he fired off post after post attacking the bill.
“Either there is a massive change or America goes bankrupt, therefore there must be massive change!” Musk wrote on X.
Some X updates end with Musk writing “VOX POPULI BOX DEI,” which translates to “the voice of the people is the voice of God,” according to Merriam-Webster.
Musk is a private citizen, not an elected official, with about 208 million followers on X and is the richest man in the world.
According to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk has a net worth of about $458 billion. That same news site puts Trump’s net worth around $6 billion.
The last government shutdown was in December 2018 and January 2019, during Trump’s first White House term.
In a request for comment, Sen. Dan Sullivan said via a spokesperson that he will respond with how he plans to vote once he’s reviewed the details of the bill.
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