Murkowski tells Alaska legislators federal employees 'not our enemies'

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said the Trump administration needs to realize federal employees are operating programs that "truly are saving lives," and there needs to be support for agencies "that Americans are relying on for livelihoods and for safety."

"Weather forecasters save lives in our state," Murkowski said during her annual speech to a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on March 18. "Public servants are not our enemies."

Murkowski is one of the few congressional Republicans openly critical of President Donald Trump. In her speech, she spoke of fear among federal workers and people who rely on their services. She said economic and international instability also are creating fear.

Alaska's senior senator defended many of the president's policies and said she agrees with the intentions, even if she disapproves of some methods used to achieve his goals.

"There are many areas where I agree with the president," she said. "I agree strongly we need to secure our borders. We need to stop the flow of fentanyl into our country. Our trade relationships are not always fair. The war in Ukraine does need to end."

Murkowski said Ukraine must be at the table when peace terms are negotiated, and the resolution cannot be one that is "favorable to Russia at Ukraine's expense, not when you have a situation where - again - it was Russia who invaded Ukraine."

How America has made enemies with Canada and is making friends with Russia is "beyond" her.

Murkowski said she plans to keep walking a political tightrope, even though Trump is acting in unprecedented ways, because she believes it is the most effective way to resolve the challenges that matter most.

"I have to work with people that I didn't vote for," she said. "I have to work with people that I don't have as good a bond or connection with because that's what Alaskans have asked me to do. They've asked me to do some really, really hard things. And this is about as hard as it's ever gotten because I've never seen Alaskans that are so worried, that are so panicked, there's so much coming at them."

While she sees the need to reform some agencies, she is concerned about the possible elimination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"When it comes to disasters that impact communities where property is lost and damaged and lives are lost, I think there's a recognition that our federal government has a role," she said in an interview following her speech. "It's not just left to the communities to try to figure out how you're going to pick up the pieces."

Murkowski also met while in Juneau with officials at the U.S. Forest Service Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, one of the Alaska sites hit hardest by federal firings, which is facing a mass influx of tourists less than a month from now.

"You're going to have 4,000 tourists arriving here in Juneau on the first cruise ship," she said. "Do we really think that one or two people can handle them all at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center?"

The Forest Service's Juneau Ranger District fired 31 employees, with 25 left, she said, putting a range of other Tongass activities and management in question. While the firings of Forest Service staff and many other federal employees were reversed due to legal challenges, some workers say they haven't yet received return-to-work notices, and others say they are skeptical about returning only to be fired again.

"I think every single person in this chamber would agree the federal government is too big," the senator said in her speech to legislators. But she argued there is a proper process for streamlining government that the Trump administration is ignoring.

"These terminations are indiscriminate, and many we're now learning are unlawful and they're being made regardless of performance, and with little understanding of the function and the value of each position," she said. "At any human level, they're traumatizing people, and they're leaving holes in our communities."