Murkowski leaves door open to scenario of caucusing with Democrats

Axios

4 hours ago

Sen. Lisa Murkowski is leaving the door open to caucusing with Democrats if they managed to produce enough midterm upsets to create a 50-50 tie in 2027.
Why it matters: The Alaska Republican is serious about putting her state first, and takes pride in practical wins for her constituents — and bucking her party when necessary.
"There is some openness to exploring something different than the status quo," she told the GD Politics podcast.
She called caucusing with Democrats as an independent an "interesting hypothetical," but added she has plenty of disagreements with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's (D-N.Y.) conference.
Zoom in: Murkowski is on a book tour for her memoir that goes public tomorrow, Far From Home.
"I call myself a Republican because of the values I hold, such as personal responsibility, small government, a strong national defense, and the individual's right to make her own choices," she writes in the book's epilogue.
In an interview with Axios, she dismissed the self-imposed July 4 deadline the White House and Hill leadership are gunning to meet as "arbitrary."
"I don't want us to be able to say we met the date, but our policies are less than we would want."
"Why are we afraid of a conference? Oh my gosh," she added.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) are wary of going to conference negotiations with both chambers' tight majorities and the upcoming debt ceiling "X-date."
Between the lines: Murkowski also shares some eye-catching personal anecdotes in the book, which spans from before her historic write-in 2010 Senate win through her 2021 vote to convict Trump of impeachment and the overturning of Roe in 2022.
Trump once referred to her as "that bitch Murkowski" in a phone call with her late colleague Rep. Don Young, Murkowski writes.
"You have nice hair," Trump told her after a 90-minute meeting about Alaska priorities in the Oval Office during his first term.
Zoom out: Murkowski shares — in almost agonizing detail — her reasoning and internal debate behind some of the biggest moments of her career. That includes:
Choosing to face nepotism charges to accept her initial appointment to the Senate from her father, who was governor at the time.
Working with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to allow the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to have his iconic thumbs down moment, preserving the Affordable Care Act in 2017.
Joining multiple bipartisan "gangs" to pass legislation with important wins for Alaska.
Voting against Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court.
Her decisions to first acquit and then convict Trump of his two rounds of impeachment charges.
The bottom line: The timing of the book is not meant to signal anything, Murkowski told Axios.
She just finally got around to telling the story, with the help of Charles Wohlforth, of when she won a write-in campaign for Senate 15 years ago after losing in the GOP primary.
"We joke many times that we tried to stop the book at multiple points," Murkowski told us, "but then, you know, you've got an impeachment or you have an insurrection. And it just seemed like there was not an ending point."