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Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) broke ranks Thursday morning and voted against a budget resolution that could set the stage for ending the two-month shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Murkowski, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, opposed the budget resolution because it would lay the groundwork for passing a budget reconciliation package to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol for 3 1/2 years — effectively taking those two key agencies out of the annual congressional appropriations process. Murkowski supports funding those critical immigration enforcement agencies, but she didn’t like that...

Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., all voted against a modified version of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act early Thursday morning. Their defection came during the Senate’s marathon "vote-a-rama," where lawmakers could force votes on any number of amendments, regardless of whether they mesh with the underlying budget blueprint.

Sen. Mike Lee says the Senate is going right back at the SAVE America Act next week and he’s urging conservatives to keep the pressure on.“Early next week, we’ll be taking up the SAVE America Act again. We need to stay on it until it passes. SPREAD THE WORD!”That renewed push comes after Senate Republicans notched a procedural win Tuesday that puts the bill back on the front burner. The Senate voted 51-48 to advance the SAVE America Act by approving a motion to proceed, with Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska the only Republican voting no.Supporters say the SAVE America...

President Donald Trump oversaw record levels of domestic energy production in 2025, including close to a billion barrels of offshore oil, according to the Department of the Interior.Last year saw a record of 714 million barrels of offshore oil produced, according to a press release from the Interior Department. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum underscored that the United States is tapping into its true energy potential.“President Trump has made it clear that America should fully develop its abundant energy resources in a way that strengthens our economy and benefits American families,” Burgum said in a statement.“By providing regulatory certainty, streamlining processes...

Democrats have received some unlikely good news that challenger Mary Peltola maintains a lead against incumbent Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, a Republican, after six months of polling. The most recent data revealed by Alaska Survey Research (ASR) found that Peltola has 52.4 percent support from respondents when undecided voters are removed from the equation, maintaining her majority lead from the October and January polls; this is a nearly five-point advantage over Sullivan, who has 47.6 percent support. Why It Matters Historically, the ruling party suffer significant losses if they also control the White House during the sitting president’s first...

The Pentagon has asked for $200 billion in funding for the war in Iran... The request has been sent to the White House, the military official said, which will review it before any request for funds is formally submitted to Congress. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the proposal. The request was reported earlier by The Washington Post. “Obviously, it takes money to kill bad guys,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said when asked about the request during a news conference on Thursday, adding: “As far as the $200 billion, I think that number could move.” On Capitol...

The House this week is set to take up the SAVE America Act (the SAVE Act 2.0), an election-integrity measure that some Senate Republicans can’t seem to get behind even though the vast majority of Americans already have. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise’s office confirms the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to register and photo identification to vote in federal elections, will hit the floor on Tuesday. While Democrats will spend hours making a mockery of truth and reality in opposing it, the legislation is expected to pass mostly along party lines — as the...

WASHINGTON — Sen. Lisa Murkowski became the first Republican senator to speak out against the SAVE Act, a sweeping election bill backed by President Donald Trump that would require proof of citizenship to vote nationwide.

Most in the GOP are silent or backing the Trump administration, but a conspicuous few are speaking out. A small but growing number of Republicans are raising public concerns about the killing Saturday of a 37-year-old Minnesota man by federal agents.Hours after the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti on a Minneapolis street, one House GOP chair called for the top ICE leader and other Trump administration officials to publicly answer lawmakers’ questions. GOP Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Thom Tillis of North Carolina called for independent probes into the shooting, with Cassidy arguing the integrity...

The Alaskan Independence Party has voted to dissolve following a December meeting of its state leadership, according to a recent statement. Party leaders cited member apathy, confusion over the organization’s purpose, and declining engagement as key factors behind the decision. The Alaska Watchman first reported earlier this month that the party’s board of directors had met on December 7 in Fairbanks, during which members voted to disband the organization. Following the vote, the board released a brief public statement to local media detailing the reasons behind its decision. The Alaskan Independence Party was formally established as a political party in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The killing of a Minnesota woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer is reverberating across Capitol Hill where Democrats, and certain Republicans, are vowing an assertive response as President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation operations spark protests nationwide.Lawmakers are demanding a range of actions, from a full investigation into Renee Good’s shooting death and policy changes over law enforcement raids to the defunding of ICE operations and the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in what is fast becoming an inflection point.“The situation that took place in Minnesota is a complete and total disgrace,” House Democratic...

A new five-year offshore oil and gas leasing plan proposes 21 sales in Alaska, from the Gulf of Alaska to the High Arctic, and 13 more off the U.S. West Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. .... Rep. Jared Huffman, D-California, was among a group of mostly California Democrats in Congress who blasted it during a news conference Thursday. “We are here because President Trump just put out what we believe is an asinine pro-polluter plan to open up our coast to offshore drilling,” Huffman said.

President Donald Trump has signed a resolution backed by members of Alaska’s Congressional delegation to revoke restrictions on drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve on the North Slope. The White House announced Friday evening that Trump had signed Senate Joint Resolution 80 into law. SJR 80 uses the Congressional Review Act to reverse restrictions enacted during the administration of President Joe Biden. Those restrictions, imposed as part of a 2022 activity plan for the reserve, were intended to protect environmentally sensitive areas against harm from oil and gas drilling. ... Friday’s signing was one of several Trump administration actions taking...

The Prohibition Party has qualified for political group recognition in Alaska, allowing state voters to register as members of the party and requiring the Alaska Division of Elections to track its total registrations. Prohibition Party Chair Zack Kusnir confirmed in a November 24 statement to Independent Political Report that the group is now “officially recognized.” He added that the party is awaiting signature verification to apply for “limited political party” status, which, if granted, would give it a ballot line in future presidential elections. The Alaska Division of Elections website also now lists the Prohibition Party alongside other recognized political...

A project heralded by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy and accelerated by President Donald Trump stands to deal a huge blow to China’s dominance in the nanotechnology, energy and automotive sectors as the GraphiteOne site near Nome uncovered vast reserves — for which Beijing previously accounted for 90% of production. As of 2024, the U.S. was at least 93% import-dependent on both rare earth elements (REEs) and graphite itself, according to the International Energy Agency, and the Graphite Creek deposit has already been dubbed the largest such tranche in the U.S. But, this week’s announcement that REEs were discovered in addition...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal judge on Monday ruled there would be no prison time for a former Alaska Airlines pilot who had taken psychedelic mushrooms days before he tried to cut the engines of a passenger flight in 2023 while riding off-duty in the cockpit.U.S. District Court Judge Amy Baggio in Portland, Oregon, sentenced Joseph Emerson to time served and three years’ supervised release, ending a case that drew attention to the need for cockpit safety and more mental health support for pilots. Federal prosecutors wanted a year in prison, while his attorneys sought probation.“Pilots are not perfect....

Alaska’s new social studies standards don’t mention the Nome Gold Rush. They don’t mention the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. They don’t mention William Egan, the state of Alaska’s first governor, and they don’t mention Sarah Palin, who ran for Vice President of the United States. There’s a lot more that’s missing in the Alaska social studies standards, but you can tell right away that something is wrong when Alaska’s social studies standards leave Alaska’s children ignorant of the headlines of Alaska’s history and the most famous Alaskans. Education departments in every state are on radical autopilot when they make social studies...

Alaska's City of Fairbanks Mayor David Pruhs, a Republican, conceded to Mindy O'Neall, a Democrat, in the mayoral election on Tuesday night. According to unofficial election night results made available by the city of Fairbanks, O’Neall received 1,808 votes (54 percent) and Pruhs received 1,528 votes (45.7 percent). Newsweek has contacted Pruhs and O'Neall for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours. Why It Matters The ballot in mayoral elections in Fairbanks does not list party affiliations next to candidates’ names, but Republicans have held the role in Fairbanks for nearly a decade. Pruhs, a conservative backed by local...

Republican senators are increasingly uneasy about President Trump’s standoff with Democratic governors over deploying National Guard troops from other states to Portland, Ore., and Chicago. The conflict between federal and state authorities escalated dramatically over the weekend when Trump moved to send National Guard soldiers to Oregon and Illinois despite opposition from their respective governors, Tina Kotek and JB Pritzker. Trump’s use of military forces was all the more controversial because a Trump-appointed federal judge for the District of Oregon ruled Saturday that the administration could not federalize Oregon’s National Guard to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in...

Oct 3 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Joe Biden exceeded his authority by withdrawing large areas along U.S. coastlines from future offshore oil and gas development, a federal judge in Louisiana ruled on Thursday.U.S. District Judge James Cain in Lake Charles, Louisiana, sided with Republican states and oil and gas industry groups that sued to block Biden's move to protect all federal waters off the East and West coasts, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and portions of the northern Bering Sea in Alaska.Biden, on one of his final days in office, used his authority under the 70-year-old Outer Continental Shelf...