Special Poll
At a press conference this week, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) didn’t hold back in her criticism of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and its sweeping disruption of the federal workforce. The Alaska senator warned that DOGE’s aggressive tactics have sparked widespread panic among federal employees, many of whom are uncertain whether they’ll still have jobs tomorrow.
“They’re traumatizing people,” Murkowski said bluntly, describing the anxiety among civil servants caused by Musk’s rapid-fire approach to slashing agencies and eliminating positions. While she reiterated her support for responsible government oversight, she argued that DOGE’s “move fast and break things” mindset is creating unnecessary chaos and fear.
But Murkowski made it clear that she’s not intimidated by Musk or his influence in the Republican Party.
“I’m not going to compromise my own integrity by hiding from my words when I feel they need to be spoken,” she said. “And it may be that Elon Musk has decided he’s going to take the next billion dollars that he makes off of Starlink and put it directly against Lisa Murkowski.”
With Musk’s America PAC poised to play a major role in shaping Republican primaries, many GOP lawmakers have stayed silent or fallen in line. But Murkowski, who survived a Trump-backed primary challenge in 2022 and famously won a write-in campaign in 2010, isn’t following the crowd. Thanks to Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, she has more political freedom than most and she’s using it.
She didn’t just challenge DOGE she also called out her Senate colleagues, accusing many of them of being too afraid to speak out.
“Some of them are acting like scaredy-cats,” she remarked off-camera, according to a source close to her team. “They whisper their concerns behind closed doors but go quiet the second a camera’s rolling or Musk’s name comes up. That’s not leadership.”
Murkowski further accused DOGE of overstepping executive authority, dismantling agencies that were established by Congress and funded through congressional appropriations.
“That’s not staying in the executive lane,” she told reporters, suggesting that Musk’s approach is not just reckless, it’s institutionally dangerous.
As frustrations grow, Murkowski even hinted at a possible shift in her political identity. She said she’s open to changing her registration to independent if it better serves the interests of Alaskans. Still, she emphasized that she would continue caucusing with Republicans, making any switch largely symbolic.
“Believe me, I have no desire to go over to the Democrat side of the aisle. I don’t fit there. I’m not one,” she said. “We’ve gotten to the place where it’s this allegiance to your caucus, your allegiance to your party, over your responsibility to the people that you represent. And I don’t buy into that.”
As Musk’s influence continues to reshape the GOP and federal institutions alike, Murkowski appears increasingly willing to stand alone, unafraid to speak out while others stay silent.