Lisa Murkowski, one of the few Republicans in Congress willing to criticize the Trump administration, made public comments at an event recently about her state of mind as she tries to do the work she was elected to do. As reported by the Anchorage Daily News:
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski told a room full of Alaska nonprofit leaders that the tumult of tariffs, executive orders, court battles, and cuts to federal services under the Trump administration are exceptionally concerning. “We are all afraid,” Murkowski said, taking a long pause. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”
At the same event, Murkowski criticized some of the things Trump has done as “unlawful” or “against the law.” She spoke out against cuts to international aid and to Medicaid, criticized effort to “politicize the federal judiciary,” and expressed concern about Congress’s failure to enforced the constitutional separation of powers.
Steve Benen at MSNBC has written that the response to Murkowski’s comments have “fallen into two camps.” One camp is sympathetic, acknowledging how hard it is for Republicans to speak out in public and actually say that she is afraid of retaliation. The other camp is not so sympathetic, pointing out that as a U.S. senator in a position of power, she could be doing a lot more, and has in fact aligned with Trump on some legislation and pretty awful appointments.
Benen, in asking which of the approaches is best, takes the middle ground by saying there is merit in each approach: she is providing space for other Republicans to speak out, but there are many other things she could and should be doing. Though I appreciate the balance of Mr. Benen analysis, I think he is being far too generous. These are extraordinary times, and someone with real power, and significant profile, who can say that she is genuinely afraid of the retaliation her occasional opposition may bring, is playing a very dangerous game by not clearly picking a side.
It was for this reason heartening to see Harvard University stand up to Trump’s bullying, and profoundly disappointing to see major American law firms capitulate to Trump’s threats. There are now stories that major philanthropic organizations are next to be threatened. Marginalized individualizes and organizations with limited power are finding ways to be heard. Those privileged people and entities who think, against all evidence, that they can manage Trump and somehow play from the middle are wrong.
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