Lisa Murkowski’s megabill betrayal proves why everyone thinks politicians are complete frauds

Senator Lisa Murkowski cast the deciding vote Tuesday to pass a massive spending bill that will send billions of dollars to Immigration and Customs Enforcement while cutting health insurance for millions of low-income Americans. The Republican-controlled Senate passed the bill, which also extends tax cuts for wealthy people and removes large abortion providers from the Medicaid program.

The Alaska senator has long called herself a moderate and even suggested just last week that she might become an independent and work with Senate Democrats, according to MSNBC. But when it came time to vote, Murkowski sided with President Donald Trump’s priorities. Her vote could shut down nearly 200 Planned Parenthood clinics across the country.

These backroom deals and abandoned principles are exactly why everyone thinks politicians are complete frauds. Murkowski got special benefits for Alaska, including a tax break for whaling boat captains and exceptions to work requirements for food stamps. Then she voted for a bill she admits will harm people in other states.

Murkowski’s claim to support abortion rights falls apart under pressure

Murkowski has repeatedly called herself “pro choice” and said she supports women’s reproductive freedoms. After the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade leaked, she criticized the ruling and said she “strongly support women’s reproductive freedoms, including the right to abortion established by Roe and Casey.”

But her voting record tells a different story. She voted to confirm Supreme Court justices Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, despite their anti-abortion views. She only opposed Brett Kavanaugh because of sexual assault allegations against him, not his stance on abortion. All three justices later voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.

The bill Murkowski just voted for will kick organizations out of Medicaid for one year if they provide abortions outside cases of rape, incest, or to save the pregnant person’s life and received at least $800,000 in Medicaid payments in 2023. This targets Planned Parenthood clinics without naming them directly. Over half of Planned Parenthood’s patients have public insurance like Medicaid, so hundreds of clinics could close. This means less access to cancer screenings, birth control, and other health services for everyone, not just those seeking abortions.

Murkowski told reporters she “struggled mightily” with the bill’s impact on vulnerable people. She said she didn’t like the bill but voted for it anyway because Trump’s 2017 tax cuts would expire otherwise, which would hurt people in Alaska. She said she hoped the House would change the bill, but the House has already signaled it won’t make changes. Murkowski could have forced changes herself by refusing to vote for the bill, but she gave up that power once she got benefits for her own state.