BURSTSen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) labeled the process that brought her to vote for the GOP’s gargantuan tax and spending package “agonizing” and said she hopes more is done to improve the bill, including through both the Senate and House going to conference to finalize it.
Murkowski told reporters after the vote that she "struggled mightily" with the impact cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could have on vulnerable populations.
“Reconciliation is never a very dignified process. We all get that,” she said.
“This is probably the most difficult and agonizing legislative 24-hour period that I have encountered, and I’ve been here quite a while and you know I’ve got a few battle scars underneath me,” she added.
The moderate Alaskan emerged as a crucial 50th vote for Republicans and was at the center of negotiations throughout Monday night into Tuesday morning. GOP leaders worked to rewrite sections of the legislation important to Murkowski — including carve-outs for Alaska in Medicaid and SNAP funding cuts — to pass muster with the Senate parliamentarian and ultimately agreed to double the rural hospital fund to $50 billion.
Murkowski ultimately handed Republicans the crucial vote, allowing Vice President Vance to break the tie.
Despite the bill's passage, the Alaska Republican believes it still can be improved.
“I had to look on balance, because the people in my state are the ones that I put first. We do not have a perfect bill by any stretch of the imagination,” she told reporters. “My hope is that the House is going to look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.”
When pressed to explain her decision to vote for the sprawling bill, Murkowski cited a number of items in the bill she won for her state, along with the potential end-of-year tax hike.
“Kill it and it’s gone and there is a tax impact coming forward. That’s going to hurt the people in my state. Kill it, and the provisions that are going to be very helpful for economic development in my state would no longer be available. Kill it, and the things we got to soften the impact on Medicaid recipients, our hospitals … that would all be gone,” she said.
“There is more that needs to be done, and I’m not done,” she added.