Sen. Lisa Murkowski says fellow Republicans ‘afraid’ of Trump, Musk

Republican Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski said her colleagues are afraid to speak up against some of the actions from President Donald Trump and key adviser Elon Musk because they think they will be “taken down” and “primaried.”

“You’ve got everyone 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,” Murkowski, one of the few Republicans willing to publicly criticize some of the president’s actions so far in his second term, said to reporters Tuesday in Alaska.

“You know what, we cannot be cowed into not speaking up.”

Both Trump and Musk have threatened to primary dissenters in the party. Recently, Trump threatened to lead the charge against Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in the primaries, after the congressman said he would vote no on a Trump-backed continuing resolution to fund the government.

“It may be that Elon Musk decides that he’s going to take the next billion dollars he makes off Starlink and put it directly against Lisa Murkowksi. And you know what. That may happen. But I’m not giving up one minute, one opportunity to try to stand up for Alaska,” she said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Murkowski addressed the Alaska Legislature, saying she was “disturbed” by how the Trump administration is treating federal employees as part of the Musk-led efforts to downsize the federal workforce.

“I think every single person in this chamber would agree that the federal government is too big,” she said. “I do support the mission behind DOGE. I get it. We need to find efficiencies in government.”

She said that reduction in the workforce make “absolute sense,” but asked that it be done “the right way.” Murkowski said the administration’s approach “lacks the fundamental decency you need with real people.”

“Public servants are not our enemies. They are our friends. they are our neighbors, they are integral to our economy and our ability to function as a state and a country, and their work might be underappreciated.”

She also said the Trump administration was “testing the court” in ignoring a federal judge’s order to halt two deportation flights of alleged gang members to El Salvador over the weekend.

“I don’t think any one of us would disagree that when you’ve got members of a really awful gang who have done some awful things and who aren’t in this country legally, we do not want them here,” she said. “But even when we want to get them out of our country there is a process, it’s called due process. We follow our own rules here.”

“When the court’s orders are defied, that weakens our courts. When the people no longer believe that the system of justice is there for them, what do we have in this country?”

Murkowski also touched on foreign policy in her remarks, noting her home state’s proximity to Russia and Canada.

In Trump’s second term, he has imposed significant tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum and repeatedly expressed his desire to turn Canada into the 51st state. Trump’s moves have led Canadian boycotts of United States’ products as well as protests.

“How we came to a place where we’re fighting now with Canada and we’re making nice with Russia — it’s beyond me,” Murkowski said.

After the speech, Murkowski addressed criticism that she may not being doing enough to push back against the Trump administration and argued that she has to “find places to work” with the president, whom Alaskans voted for in November. The reliably-red state voted for Trump in the presidential election — 54.5% to the 41% who voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.

She also said she won’t back down on her convictions — and said she will accept the consequences.

“I am not going to compromise my own integrity by hiding from my words when I feel they need to be spoken,” she said. “I’m going to take the criticism that comes.”

“I get criticized for what I say, and then everyone else is like, ‘Well how come nobody else is saying anything?’ Well figure it out, because they’re looking at how many things they are throwing at me and they’re thinking ‘Maybe I’ll just duck and cover.'”

Murkowski, who voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial in 2021, also opposed the confirmation of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. But she voted to confirm Trump’s other nominees, including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Murkowski is up for reelection in 2028.