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Lisa Murkowski has at least thought about caucusing with Democrats in the Senate — simply, as she put it, “because people have asked” about it.
“I would be not being honest with you if I said I’ve never been asked … ‘Why don’t you switch?’ Or people have said: ‘You should switch,’” the Alaska senator told Semafor in an interview ahead of Tuesday’s release of her new book. “Have I considered it? Yes, because I’ve been asked the question.”
Far from Home is a fitting title for the memoir of a moderate Republican who flies back and forth between Alaska and DC on a regular basis. She’s survived tough challenges, both in the statehouse and the US Senate, in part thanks to her willingness to be on an island in the GOP.
Perhaps that ability to tolerate tension explains why, even after voting against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and supporting some of former President Joe Biden’s nominees, Murkowski continues to caucus with the GOP. As she prepared a halibut dinner for her interns, she explained why she’s aligned with politicians whose ideology and temperament don’t always mesh with her own.
“Do I feel that within my Republican conference, I always feel like I’m right here in my political home? No. There’s sometimes directions and policies that I disagree with,” Murkowski said, adding that her philosophy and values “more closely align with” the GOP, not Democrats.
“But having said that, it is not [accurate] that I allow a label to define me. And I think maybe this is what causes some frustration with people.”
Murkowski is in the thick of it in more ways than one as she weighs her vote on the GOP tax-cut bill, but that’s a position she’s familiar with.
Her book reveals a trove of anecdotes along those lines: her handling of the nepotism charges that popped up after her father, the former governor Frank Murkowski, appointed her to his old Senate seat; her write-in vote for John Kasich in the 2016 presidential election; and President Donald Trump’s subsequent complaint that “she hates me.”
The Alaskan wrote that she called Trump later to assure him that, no, she doesn’t hate him.
In fact, Murkowski had a recent call with Trump about working together — despite the fact that he tried to oust her in 2022 and that she didn’t support his presidential campaigns. She called the conversation “very pleasant,” like her previous one-on-one interactions with him.
“He has directed his team, and, I think, resources towards Alaska, because he sees the potential … and I’m thankful for that,” Murkowski said of her conversation with Trump. “And I said, ‘I have been critical. I get that.’
“But I also said something to the effect of: ‘My mom raised me to know when it’s time to speak out, but also when you want to acknowledge and thank [people] for things that have been done,’” she added. “And so I wanted to thank him for it.”
The View From Lisa Murkowski
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Burgess Everett: Republicans seem to think they are making progress in getting you to yes on this tax-cuts bill, which is being rewritten kind of on the fly.
Lisa Murkowski: That worries me, because — I’m going to use your words — you’re having things that are being developed on the fly … What happens if we’re able to say we met our deadline and we passed a bill, but then we realize that we weren’t as careful in crafting our policy along the way as we needed to be, and now we’ve got long-term implications? I’d rather take the time to get this as close to right as possible.
Are you skeptical you can get this bill done this week? (The Senate will get an Iran briefing Tuesday and also is considering a spending cuts package this week.)
I’m ready to be shown that we’ve gotten ourselves to a place of consensus and agreement, but there’s just been a lot that’s going on … You’re an observer. You tell me, do we have enough time to do this?
You probably have some leverage to answer that question.
You’re putting pressure on me, Burgess; that’s crazy. I can’t believe that.
You detail in your book your vote against repealing the Affordable Care Act. Are you similarly worried about the projected insurance coverage losses in this year’s bill?
I am not afraid to endorse work requirements for able-bodied people within that Medicaid expansion population. But I have made clear that our challenge is not necessarily the work requirements.
We’ve got a system [in Alaska] that is old and antiquated when it comes to our public assistance right now … so we’re asking for flexibility. And are we there yet? Are we getting people’s attention on this? Yes, I think that is fair.
You write about almost losing your primary in the statehouse back in the day after trying to raise alcohol taxes. Did that help you weather some tough Senate races later?
You should never take for granted anything when it comes to an election. I felt I was in a pretty good place. I had money, which as a statehouse candidate you typically don’t have. My numbers were good in the community. I had a very successful term.
But I underestimated those who, I think, feel that I had let them down … the message to me was, ‘You are a Republican. You darn well better not even breathe the word taxes.’ And so I was clearly targeted with that one.
You also write that losing your 2010 primary ultimate made you a more successful senator. Was it because, and these are my words here, you didn’t have to kowtow to the most conservative voices in the GOP?
When I was returned to the Senate, it was very clear to me that it was not the Republican Party and their support that had returned me. It was a very broad, eclectic group of Alaskans who came together from all different political stripes to say: ‘We want you to continue representing us.’
And so it was not so much not having to ‘kowtow down to your party’ or fall in line with the party, as a recognition of the people who have kind of resurrected this, this political career … that’s been healthy for me. I think it’s been freeing for me, and it has made me appreciate the very diverse and complex constituency that I represent.
I just got a text message saying we have to wrap it up.
I got to feed these kids. And babysit a tree out on the corner that is going to be chopped down because it’s going to fall into the intersection. So I have a lot going on right now. I’m going to make a rhubarb crisp. I’ve done the halibut right now. But I have to ask you a question.
Sure.
[sarcastically] Wouldn’t you much prefer to randomly hope that I come out of the elevator that you’re waiting by, so you can grab a question and then follow me down the hallway as 17 other reporters kind of swarm around me? Wouldn’t you much rather have that kind of a dialogue?
No. You and I both share that aversion to a large crowd of reporters.
It’s, like, my worst nightmare.