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Murkowski issues dare to Musk, says GOP senators afraid to oppose Trump but not her

March 20, 2025 | | Print Article

Some Senate Republicans have begun publicly resisting the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its work.

These Senate Republicans are specifically resisting calls from the Trump administration for Congress to codify all of the cuts to the federal government recommended by DOGE.

“It could be possible that, after careful consideration, we would decide to codify some of [the recommendations],” Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins recently told The Hill.

But she added that this plan of action shouldn’t be applied “across the board” to every single DOGE recommendation.

This wasn’t her first time kvetching about DOGE:

Sen. Mike Rounds meanwhile recently raised concerns about the pace at which DOGE is cutting into the federal government.

“It’s moving a lot faster than most of us thought that it would — we want to make sure that we have an input into it,” he told Dakota News Now. “We want to make sure that as members of the Senate when we find something that’s not right, we can get it fixed as soon as possible.”

“The American people have said, one way or another, we’ve got to get this spending under control. So we’re going to try to help the president wherever we can to get it under control, but we’re also going to be a double check where there is damage being done that should not be done,” he added.

Then there’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who’s been critical of DOGE’s attempts to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

In a social media post published earlier this month, she described what she’d heard after meeting with several USAID employees.

“They not only informed me of the confusing and callous handling of personnel matters by [the Office of Personnel Management] and DOGE, but they also painted an incredibly troubling picture of what the world looks like without humanitarian assistance from the United States,” she wrote.

“Although I support measures to find inefficiencies within the agency, USAID’s mission to keep people healthy and safe in even the most remote corners of the world should not be eliminated,” she added.

Look:

During an appearance this Tuesday at the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Murkowski further claimed that there are even more anti-DOGE complainers in the Senate but that they’re afraid to speak up because of potential backlash from DOGE’s diehard supporters.

“I get criticized for what I say, and everybody else is like, ‘How come nobody else is saying anything?’” she told reporters. “Well, figure it out, because they’re looking at how many things are being thrown at me, and it’s like, ‘Maybe I should just duck and cover.’”

“That’s why you’ve got everybody just zip-lipped, not saying a word because they’re afraid they’re going to be taken down — they’re going to be primaried, they’re going to be given names in the media. We cannot be cowed into not speaking up,” she continued.

Listen:

In fairness to her, she did admit that she doesn’t plan to criticize the Trump administration “at every opportunity.” But she stressed that she will make an attempt to “stiffen her spine” and speak out whenever there is an issue that troubles her — like with DOGE.

“I’m going to have to figure out where I can work with him, and I’m going to have to stiffen my spine and take the slings and arrows when people say, ‘Why aren’t you a better Republican? And if not, get out of the party?’” she said. “Until Alaskans tell me, ‘Lisa — it’s just not working anymore,’ I am going to give you every last breath that I have, and I am going to try to solve every last little problem.”

“I’m not going to compromise my own integrity by hiding from my words when I feel they need to be spoken. I’m going to take the criticism that comes. It may be that Elon Musk has decided that he’s going to take the next billion dollars that he makes off of Starlink and put it directly against Lisa Murkowski, and you know what? That may happen,” she added.

Vivek Saxena
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