Lisa Murkowski Stares Down Reporter for 10 Seconds After Being Confronted Over ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Vote
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski stared down NBC News’ Chief Capitol Hill Correspondent Ryan Nobles on Tuesday after he questioned her about her involvement in the Senate’s approval of the GOP-led “One Big, Beautiful Bill.”
“Sen. [Rand] Paul said that your vote was a bailout for Alaska at the expense of the country,” Nobles told Murkowski on-camera.
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Nobles’ inquiry stemmed from remarks Paul reportedly made about Murkowski after the Senate passed the legislation on Tuesday. Per the Daily Beast, Rand stated that Republicans “chose subsidies and carveouts for the Senator from Alaska,” claiming the party modified the bill to benefit the state of Alaska in exchange for Murkowski’s vote.
“Oh my…” Murkowski replied, in apparent shock.
“That’s what Sen. Paul said,” Nobles responded.
Murkowski, who appeared to be irritated by the question, blinked her eyes one last time at Nobles before launching into a stare down. Breaking the silence, Nobles shared the first word, which was a him clarifying that he did not make the statement himself, though he still wanted a response.
“I didn’t say it, ma’am. I’m just asking for your response,” Nobles noted.
After a second more of nothing, a visibly frustrated Murkowski answered. “My response is, I have an obligation to the people of the state of Alaska, and I live up to that every single day,” she said, adding that this has been an “agonizing” experience. “I fight for my state’s interest and I make sure that Alaskans are understood. I work hard to take care of a state that has more unique situations, more unique people and it’s just different. So when people suggest the federal dollars go to one of our 50 states in a quote, ‘bailout,’ I find that offensive.”
Another brief moment of silence between the two then set in. Murkowski eventually continued to explain her reasons for voting ‘Yes’ on the bill while acknowledging that the bill will allow Alaskans to reap benefits that Americans in other states will not.
“I advocated for my state’s interest. I will continue to do that, and I will make no excuses for doing that. Do I like this bill? No. I tried to take care of Alaska’s interests, but I know that in many parts of the country there are Americans that are not going to be advantaged by this bill. I don’t like that,” she explained. “I don’t like the fact that we moved through an artificial deadline, artificial timelines to produce something to meet a deadline, rather than to actually try to produce the best bill for the country. But when I saw the direction that this was going … you can either say I don’t like it and not try to help my state or you can roll up your sleeves.”
On Tuesday, the Senate voted 51-50 in favor of the controversial spending bill, with the tie-breaking vote cast by Vice President JD Vance after a handful of Republicans sided with Democrats and Independents against it. Some of the unique privileges Alaska will receive that differ from the other 49 states will be an exemption from new Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (S.N.A.P.) requirements and state cost-sharing, only if the state implements a plan to reduce administrative errors as the state has had the highest S.N.A.P. payment error rate in the country for the past two years.
Republican Sens. Rand, Susan Collins and Thom Tillis voted “No” against the legislation, while zero Democrats voted in favor of it. The “Big, Beautiful Bill” will now head back to the House of Representatives for approval, following some alterations that came during a marathon weekend session that stretched into the early hours of Tuesday.
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