‘Agonizing’: How Alaska’s Murkowski Decided to Vote for Trump Bill

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‘Agonizing’: How Alaska’s Murkowski Decided to Vote for Trump Bill/ Newslooks/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski cast the decisive vote for Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill after intense negotiations. She secured key Medicaid and food aid protections for her state despite deep reservations. Her vote pushed Trump’s signature legislation closer to becoming law amid Republican infighting.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a key swing vote on the budget reconciliation package, leaves the chamber as Republicans plan to begin a final push to advance President Donald Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts package. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, center, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, arrives for a closed-door Republican meeting to advance President Donald Trump’s sweeping domestic policy bill, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, June 27, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Quick Look

Murkowski wavered until the final hours before voting yes
Secured carveouts for Alaska in Medicaid and food assistance
GOP leaders courted her as the swing vote
Bill mentions Alaska 19 times, highlighting its unique needs
Critics call concessions “pork,” but Murkowski defends her decision
Vote sends Trump’s bill back to House for final approval

Murkowski’s Crucial Vote for Trump’s Bill Came After Intense Agony, Last-Minute Concessions

Deep Look

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just after midnight, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski was pacing alone in a Senate hallway, looking tense and exhausted.

Her Republican colleagues knew that her vote could make or break President Donald Trump’s sprawling package of tax cuts and spending reductions. Asked whether she’d decided how to vote, Murkowski shook her head, raised her hand to ward off questions, and kept walking.

Twelve hours later, she cast the deciding vote to pass the bill, having secured major concessions for her remote home state.

Speaking afterward, Murkowski described the last day as “probably the most difficult and agonizing legislative 24-hour period that I have encountered.”

“And you all know,” she added, “I’ve got a few battle scars underneath me.”

Murkowski, No Stranger to Tough Votes

In nearly 23 years in the Senate, Murkowski has faced her share of political storms as a moderate Republican willing to break ranks. But even by her standards, the past few days were intense.

She leveraged the pressure on her to negotiate significant gains for Alaska—including exemptions for Medicaid costs and food assistance programs crucial to the state’s high-cost, hard-to-reach communities.

“Lisa can withstand pressure,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a close friend and fellow moderate. Collins said she spoke with Murkowski on Monday when she was still undecided. “I know it was a difficult decision for her, and I also know how much thought she put into it.”

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, put it more bluntly: “She knows how to use her leverage.”

Alaska’s Fingerprints All Over the Bill

The 887-page legislation passed the Senate on Tuesday, teeming with carveouts for Alaska. The bill references California three times, Texas twice, and New York not at all—but Alaska is mentioned 19 times.

Among the Alaska-specific provisions: new oil and gas lease sales, tax breaks for the state’s fisheries and whalers, and tribal exemptions from new federal work requirements.

Yet even as she negotiated these benefits, Murkowski remained deeply conflicted. Her biggest concern was the bill’s cuts to Medicaid—vital in a state where roughly one-third of the population relies on the program.

Concessions Sealed Her Vote

Murkowski ultimately sided with the bill after securing last-minute changes. These included allowing states with high error rates in the food stamp program—including Alaska—to avoid steep new costs, and creating a $50 billion fund to protect rural hospitals.

Collins proposed the hospital fund and praised Murkowski’s efforts, even though she herself voted against the final bill. “The fact is, Alaska is unique from every other state,” Collins said.

Alaska’s needs are indeed extraordinary. Many communities lack road connections, forcing residents to fly for medical care. Food costs are high because supplies often arrive by barge or plane.

“I had to look on balance, because the people in my state are the ones that I put first,” Murkowski said. “We do not have a perfect bill by any stretch of the imagination.”

Criticism From Both Sides

Not everyone was happy. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who opposed the bill, said Republicans had piled on “pork and subsidies for Alaska to secure that vote.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said the changes Murkowski won for food stamps could encourage states with poor oversight to avoid fixing problems.

“It will expand the graft,” Klobuchar argued.

A Senator Often in the Spotlight

This is familiar terrain for Murkowski, who’s found herself at the center of many of the Senate’s most contentious debates.

In 2021, she joined six other Republicans and all Democrats in voting to convict Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. In 2018, she broke ranks by opposing Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court amid sexual misconduct allegations.

In the days before Tuesday’s vote, Murkowski was a constant focus of GOP leadership, who huddled with her repeatedly on the Senate floor. Sometimes wrapped in a blanket against the chamber’s cold, she sifted through amendment drafts and spoke with aides and White House officials.

A Decisive Moment

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., had said for days that he would schedule a vote as soon as he secured 51 senators in support. Tuesday morning, Murkowski’s decision finally became clear, and Thune quickly moved forward.