Sen. Lisa Murkowski wants to slow down on Trump's "big, beautiful bill"

Axios

23-06-2025

Sen. Lisa Murkowski thinks the Senate is rushing on President Trump's budget bill, and is asking why her colleagues are "afraid" of conference negotiations.
Why it matters: The Alaska Republican is publishing a memoir this week, intended to tell of her historic write-in ballot win in 2010, but going on through her vote to convict Trump of impeachment. She finds herself once again at the center — of attention and political parties.
"I don't want us to be able to say we met the date, but our policies are less than we would want," Murkowski told Axios in an interview late last week.
"It's an arbitrary date," she said on the self-imposed July 4 deadline the White House and Hill leadership are gunning to meet for the "one big, beautiful bill."
"Why are we afraid of a conference? Oh my gosh," she added. Leadership has been wary of the the lengthy formal process of reconciling differences between House and Senate bills.
Zoom out: The reconciliation process will allow the Senate to pass the package along party lines.
Murkowski thinks it is a problematic move, warning that all the same debates will be had again when power shifts, "with an effort by the other side to flip what we are putting in place."
She is working to ensure changes to Medicaid do not overly hurt Alaska communities because of their outdated reporting systems, but also touted "some really great things" in the bill.
Some of her key allies for bipartisanship have now left the chamber. "There are new allies cropping up," Murkowski said, "But yes, it is getting harder."
The big picture: Murkowski has long been a thorn in GOP leadership's side.
She is serious about putting Alaska first, and takes pride in practical wins for her state — and bucking her party when necessary. The style has put her in the line of fire.
It has also kept her in her Senate seat despite the Tea Party in 2010 and now MAGA threats.
Murkowski describes a direct link between the two big GOP movements of her career.
"The so-called MAGA movement, this personality cult that has ripped us apart, was born, with another name, during the first two years after President Obama was elected," Murkowski writes in Far From Home.
"The virulent spread of angry populism transformed American politics."
What she's saying: Murkowski's reluctance to enter politics and her frequent loneliness in D.C. — and in her party—are evident.
"I will be honest, sometimes, it is exhausting," Murkowski told Axios about her political role. She finds it "tiring" to be swarmed by reporters just because most of her colleagues' votes are more predictable than hers.
"I would be less than honest with you, if I say, 'Oh yeah, every day, I wake up with great excitement and much energy to go on and conquer the world,'" she said.