‘Anxious myself about using my voice’: One Republican senator finally reveals why criticizing Trump is the ultimate taboo

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has done what almost no Republican dares to do anymore—speak an obvious truth out loud.

At a recent gathering of nonprofit leaders in her home state, Murkowski dropped the façade that’s become standard Republican uniform, admitting what many have long suspected: GOP lawmakers are terrified of Donald Trump‘s wrath. “We are all afraid,” Murkowski confessed to the room, taking a weighty pause that spoke volumes more than her words. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where I certainly have not been here before.” She didn’t stop there, adding the kicker that explains why the Republican Party has morphed into a Trump praise factory: “I’ll tell ya, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”

The four-term senator’s candor offers a rare glimpse into the paralyzing fear that’s apparently gripped what was once the party of Reagan, transforming would-be profiles in courage into profiles in cowering. Murkowski, who has served in the Senate since 2002, has walked an increasingly lonely path as one of the few Republicans willing to occasionally break ranks with Trump—though critics point out her resistance often amounts to furrowed brows followed by votes that align with the administration’s agenda.

At the same Alaska event, Murkowski went further than most of her colleagues would dream of going, describing some of Trump’s second-term actions as flatly “unlawful” and “against the law.” She decried the gutting of USAID as having been “just obliterated” and characterized proposed Republican cuts to Medicaid as potentially “devastating” for vulnerable Americans. Perhaps most strikingly, she warned that efforts to politicize the federal judiciary have brought America to “a very dangerous place.” The senator’s comments aren’t entirely surprising given her history. In December, shortly after Trump secured his second term, Murkowski admitted she felt “more comfortable” with no party affiliation than with the Republican label.

This followed her 2021 statement questioning whether she belonged in a party that had become “nothing more than the party of Trump” after the January 6 Capitol attack. But talk, as they say, is cheap—especially in Washington. Murkowski’s words, while refreshingly honest, highlight the bizarre paradox of powerful senators behaving like powerless bystanders. She acknowledged as much, noting that Congress has surrendered too much authority to the executive branch: “It’s called the checks and balances. And right now, we are not balancing as the Congress.” No kidding, Senator! It’s almost as if that whole co-equal branch of government thing wasn’t just a fun suggestion in the Constitution. Who knew?

So here we are in 2025. If fear is what keeps Republicans in line, what happens when the fear of betraying their oaths to the Constitution finally outweighs their fear of Trump? Or is that a line we’ve already crossed?