“Nothing is going better for Alaska than resource development.”
That was one of the few positive notes that Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski had for the Alaska Legislature during her annual address on Tuesday, where she praised Republican efforts under President Donald Trump to increase drilling, mining and logging in Alaska while registering tepid concern for Trump’s war in Iran, efforts to curtail voting rights, saber-rattling at Greenland and escalating health care costs.
Murkowski has been one of the few Republicans openly critical of Trump, but her speech on Tuesday made clear she sees the administration as a friend on resource development.
Her controversial decision to support Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill last year, which instituted harsh cuts to health care spending among others, was in large part because it also included provisions that mandated opening up broad swaths of Alaska to development.
“We’ve restored access. We’ve mandated lease sales. We’ll soon keep a greater share of the revenues from our petroleum reserves,” she said. “This is real. This is meaningful. This is now. And of course, as we’re looking at all that is happening around the globe in light of the geopolitics and supply disruptions, this is a great opportunity.”
Watch: Joint Legislative Session – Address by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski
She said the new urgency around resource development was a silver lining in Trump’s war with Iran, which she voted against reining in, arguing that it could drive support for Alaska-based projects even though it could cause broad economic destruction, including for Alaskans stuck paying high gas and energy prices.
“I’m worried. I’m worried about the impact of higher fuel prices, but I’m also worried about shortages, shortages of our ability to get refined product,” she said, noting that fertilizer is also expected to take a major hit, later adding, “The situation in Iran is not good. The situation, as it’s going to impact Alaskans in their homes, is not good, but could the state benefit because there is this increased focus on resource shortages and volatility?”
She suggested that the Trump administration could use the war in Iran to expedite permitting for resource extraction projects, such as a massive natural gas pipeline connecting the North Slope to export terminals in Southcentral, and praised the administration for working to develop domestic sources of energy and critical minerals.
“We have seen what it means to be vulnerable from a resource perspective, and we are learning what it means to be vulnerable when it comes to critical minerals,” she said, “And you have seen this president turn that around in a strong way.”
But one of Trump’s biggest targets for critical minerals, Greenland, isn’t thrilling Murkowski, who warned that the president’s threats to take the region by force don’t help anybody.
“I don’t think that Alaska is better off. I don’t think that the region is more secure when the US threatens allies like Greenland that pushes them away instead of reinforcing the partnerships that protect our mutual interest,” she said. “I think we’re going to be fine, but we need to remember that these relationships matter.”
She offered similarly glancing criticism of Republicans’ efforts to limit voting access with the controversial SAVE Act, which would subject voters across the country to strict identification requirements and require them to visit election offices in person to register and prove their citizenship. For many Alaskans who don’t have a local election office to drive to, it would create a massive and costly roadblock to voting.
She said she shared those concerns, but insisted that the thinking behind the bill was valid.
“I strongly agree with the premise that only citizens should vote, and voters, it’s reasonable you should have to show your ID. The problem here is with implementation under the Act,” she said. “This bill, again, is well-intended, and the premise is strong. It was not intended to disenfranchise Alaskans who can rightly vote, but I fear that that could be its effect.”
In legislators’ questions, several asked about the impact of Republican priorities on Alaska’s already expensive health care system. Under Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill, critical social safety net programs like Medicaid and food stamps are expected to shed tens of thousands of Alaskans under new, tighter eligibility requirements and burdensome work requirements. They’ve also run into limits with how the Rural Health Transformation Fund — a pot of money that was pitched as a way to soften the blow of the social safety net cuts, even though it’s far less money and also time-limited.
Murkowski conceded that there will likely be people hurt by the bill.
“Health care is a worry for me, I know, a worry for you all. I mentioned the reconciliation bill earlier in my speech. I held my vote out from the reconciliation package. It was not a pleasant time, but I needed to make sure that Alaska would see the adjustments, the flexibilities built in, whether it was delays, exemptions, but basically the funding needed to minimize the harm to Alaska,” she said. “And even with all that we gained with that, I worry about those Alaskans who may fall through the cracks as requirements change.”
But when asked what, if anything, could be done about it, Murkowski said it was up to state legislators to comply with the federal requirements so the money doesn’t get siphoned away elsewhere. When asked about the limitations on how the fund can be used, given prohibitions against spending it on issues like infrastructure and broadband access that many say are root problems, Murkowski said it’s about thinking innovatively.
“This administration is really leaning in on the technologies that are going to make us smarter, better,” she said, noting that Alaska’s lack of infrastructure may actually be a benefit because it’ll be easier to transition to emerging health industries. “It’s technologies that they really want us to lean in on, and it’s good to utilize technologies as long as we have that base layer.”
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Bluesky.
