The Republican senator tried to explain why she advanced a far-right megabill despite serious reservations, but her reasoning doesnt make sense.
Among the many problems with Lisa Murkowskiâs odd rationale for voting for a megabill she didnât like: She expects House Republicans to ârecognize that weâre not there yet.â
GOP leaders fundamentally reject her vision â and have every intention of ignoring it. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-07-01T17:49:27.107Z
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/alaskas-lisa-murkowski-criticizes-megabill-voting-re-not-yet-rcna216281
Around this time eight years ago, House Republicans had already passed
a right-wing heath care bill intended to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, but Senate Republicans were struggling to keep their members in line. Alaskas Lisa Murkowski, in particular, said she simply couldnt get on board.
To win her over, GOP leaders came up with a variety of ideas intended to help Alaskans so they wouldnt feel the punishments that Republicans were eager to impose on the rest of the country.
The proposed carve-outs and schemes were even given memorable, albeit unflattering, nicknames: Alaska Purchase, Klondike Kickback and, my personal favorite, Polar Payoff.
The core of the partys offer was simple:
If Murkowski let Republicans repeal Obamacare, GOP leaders would agree to let Alaska keep Obamacare.
It didnt work. Murkowski remained unconvinced, and she ultimately helped derail the gambit and rescue the countrys health care system......
This time, however, it did work. NBC News reported:
[Murkowski], who had expressed concerns throughout the process about the bills cuts to social safety net programs, was a key vote for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to win over. I struggled mightily with the impact on the most vulnerable in this country, when you look to Medicaid and SNAP, Murkowski told reporters after the vote, adding that she didnt get everything she wanted but I had to look on balance.
Even more striking, however, was something the Alaska Republican said after the dust settled on the dramatic vote: Murkowski said she hopes House Republicans make changes to the Senates version of the bill......
But thats a difficult position to take seriously. For one thing, if shed joined the bipartisan minority that opposed this bill, it wouldnt have killed the legislation;
it wouldve opened the door to a new round of negotiations in the Senate where Murkowski couldve exercised enormous influence. By giving up her leverage, shes apparently hoping to see House members do the work she couldve been involved in directly.
For another, Republican leaders fundamentally disagree with her entire vision of the process. Murkowski apparently believes itll be up to the House to
recognize that were not there yet, but as far as the White House and GOP leaders are concerned, the negotiations are over. Theres nothing left to talk about. The bill is done. The Houses job is to approve it, as is, quickly and with as little fuss as possible.
If, as expected, House Republicans do as theyre told and approve the Senate version of the bill without changes, it means Murkowski will have made it possible to implement the most regressive piece of legislation in modern history a bill she admits remains flawed and in need of changes and that will further mean that she bears responsibility for the consequences the package imposes on the nation.