Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska rejected the possibility that she’ll jump from being a Republican to being a Democrat.
Murkowski, one of the biggest GOP critics of the Trump administration, said she has “no desire” to switch parties and that there’s “no way” she would, despite feeling “very discouraged at times with things that go on in my own caucus, in my own party.”
“Now, some of the Republicans will say, you are not really one of us. Let’s define: What is the Republican Party nowadays? Now there’s an interview for you. But really, where are we, the Republican Party? Who really exemplifies the heart of the party right now?” the senator added. “In many ways, we are a party that is really struggling to identify.”
Murkowski’s commitment to the party is important as the GOP lost control of the Senate after Democratic Sens. Jon Ossoff, Raphael Warnock, and Alex Padilla were sworn into office earlier this week. A 50-50 split in the Senate means that the Democrats and the two independents who caucus with them can rely on Vice President Kamala Harris to act as a tiebreaker.
The Alaskan senator recently clashed with her own party when she called on the president to resign in the aftermath of the Capitol Hill riot. Days later, she also declared that the House of Representatives was right to impeach Trump for “unlawful actions.” Trump was impeached on a charge of incitement of insurrection last week and faces a Senate trial starting next week. He claims the impeachment is a “hoax.”
“Such unlawful actions cannot go without consequence, and the House has responded swiftly, and I believe, appropriately, with impeachment,” Murkowski said a day after the House impeachment vote.
Murkowski rebuffed rumors that she’d switch parties previously, but the new balance of power in the Senate will keep the spotlight on her and a handful of other senators who have a record of bucking party lines in recent years.
