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New state and local increases are boosting paychecks in Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and other locations this week. Workers in about 15 locations nationwide are about to receive a boost in their paychecks, thanks to minimum wage increases that went into effect this week around the country. On Tuesday, July 1, minimum wage increases went into effect in Alaska, Oregon, and Washington D.C. Additionally, 12 cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles, are doing the same. The minimum wage hasn’t changed on a federal level since 2009. It remains stuck at $7.25. However, local governments have been moving the needle...

After Zohran Mamdani’s apparent victory in the New York Democratic mayoral primary on Tuesday, former Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) liked an Instagram post congratulating him on his win. The only problem — Jackson Lee died last July. From ghost-likes and new profile pictures to a posthumous endorsement, accounts for dead lawmakers have seemingly resurrected on social media in an unsettling trend of beyond-the-grave engagement. “Dear White Staffers,” an anonymous account dedicated to highlighting experiences and perspectives of non-white congressional staffers, on Wednesday posted a screenshot of a notification that the late Texas representative’s account had liked the congratulatory post...

Breitbart News @BreitbartNews Lisa Murkowski says that if the balance in the Senate goes from 53-47 back to 50-50, she's open to joining with the Democrats to give them the majority From Galen Druke 3:14 PM · Jun 23, 2025

Within weeks of the embarrassment of the 2022 red trickle midterm elections, Tillis thought it would be a good idea to get into bed with the Democrats on a hideous amnesty bill that was an homage to Barack. The timing was almost as bad as the bill itself. ... Now Tillis is throwing his second hissy fit of the year — opposing Pete Hegseth's confirmation as Secretary of Defense — and has become a fly in the ointment regarding Ed Martin’s nomination as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Tillis takes umbrage with Martin's support of J6 defendants, especially...

A single Republican senator — Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) — voted against the nomination of Harmeet Dhillon to serve as assistant attorney general, veering away from the rest of her GOP colleagues who voted in favor. After her nomination in December, lawmakers finally held a formal vote Thursday and Dhillon was approved in a 52-45 vote. However, Murkowski opposed the nomination and sided with Democrats. President Donald Trump announced in December the nomination of Dhillon to work as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. “Throughout her career, Harmeet has stood up consistently to protect our...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is again speaking out against the Trump administration — this time blasting efforts led by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to gut the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) by slashing jobs and foreign contracts. Murkowski, a crucial swing vote in the Republican-controlled Senate, said Thursday in a post on social platform X that she recently met with USAID employees from her state. “They not only informed me of the confusing and callous handling of personnel matters by [the Office of Personnel Management] and DOGE, but they also painted an incredibly troubling picture of what...

Primarying these two POS RINOS needs to be a top priority going forward. They both voted NO for Pete Hegseth as well.

"You do NOT disrespect those who have worked hard--who have done good and honorable public service.... When you're dealing with employees, there is a right way and a not-so-right way to treat them."

"[It] doesn't demonstrate much due process.... It doesn't show respect for those who have worked hard...."

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) intends to support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the senator announced Wednesday. “I intend to support Robert Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as Secretary of Health and Human Services. While there is no dispute that the U.S. spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country, our health outcomes do not reflect this investment,” she wrote in a lengthy statement on X. “Instead of focusing on who covers our exorbitant healthcare costs, we need to reduce these costs by directing our attention to prevention and...

President Trump on Friday said he wasn’t expecting Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) to vote against his controversial nominee for secretary of Defense, Army veteran and former Fox News host Pete Hegseth. “I was very surprised that Collins and Murkowski would do that,” Trump said. The president also nodded to the yes vote from Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to advance Hegseth’s nomination, saying he is “always a no vote. Was Mitch a no vote? How about Mitch?” McConnell voted to advance Hegseth’s confirmation. “Let’s see what happens,” the president said. The Senate voted largely along party...

WASHINGTON—Two centrist Republican senators said they opposed the nomination of President Trump’s defense-secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, injecting new drama into what was expected to be a nail-biter of a vote Friday. In a statement Thursday, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said Hegseth’s “nomination to the role poses significant concerns that I cannot overlook,” pointing to worries about his character and his lack of experience running large organizations, as well as his past opposition to women serving in combat roles in the military. “I cannot in good conscience support his nomination,” she said. Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) followed with...

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said on Thursday she can't support Pete Hegseth to be President Donald Trump's secretary of Defense. "Given the global security environment we’re operating in, it is critical that we confirm a Secretary of Defense, however, I regret that I am unable to support Mr. Hegseth," she concluded in a lengthy statement posted to X. In her reasoning, Murkowski cited infidelity, "allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking" and Hegseth's previous comments on women serving in the military.

Benny Johnson @bennyjohnson 🚨BREAKING: Senators McConnell, Murkowski, and Collins are reportedly set to oppose Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense 3:42 PM · Jan 22, 2025

Crews are putting up large anti-scale barricades around the White House and the Treasury tonight.. Big news coming this weekend? ... Any guesses? ... Lisa Murkowski, who had a high chance of voting NO, just voted YES to advance the Big Beautiful Bill after she spoke with Vance 3 to go! ... JD Vance is on the Senate floor lobbying Republican holdouts to vote YES on the Big Beautiful Deal

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told Senate Republicans to expect to see the legislative text of the budget reconciliation package on Friday evening and then to vote at noon Saturday to begin debate on President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” Several GOP senators, however, refused to say whether they would vote to proceed to the bill, including Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says he’s a hard “no” on the legislation because it includes a provision to raise the debt limit by $5 trillion.

Monday on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) said she had “many questions” about the success of President Donald Trump’s military strike on three Iranian nuclear facilities. Cooper asked, “You’re somebody in Washington who’s, you know, people on both sides of the aisle consider a straight shooter. You have your what you believe in and you stand by it, sometimes it’s out of favor, sometimes it’s in favor with your own party. Do you think it was the right move by President Trump to order air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities given what we have seen now as...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — For the first time ever, parts of Alaska will be under a heat advisory — but you can put an asterisk at the end of that term. It's not the first instance of unusually high temperatures in what many consider the nation's coldest state, but the National Weather Service only recently allowed for heat advisories to be issued there. Information on similarly warm weather conditions previously came in the form of "special weather statements." Using the heat advisory label could help people better understand the weather's severity and potential danger, something a nondescript "special weather statement" didn't...

Aseismic shift has occurred in the Trump administration’s new defense spending plan that is just emerging when it comes to the USAF’s airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) predicament. The service’s E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft are dwindling in number and rapidly aging into unsupportability. The proven and in-production E-7 Wedgetail, based on the Boeing 737 and serving with multiple allies, was supposed to bridge the gap between the E-3’s retirement and pushing the sending part of the mission to space-based distributed satellite constellations. You can read all about this here. Now, if the administration gets...

Anchorage Daily News reports that an underwater archaeological team identified and mapped a shipwreck involved in one of Alaska's most tragic maritime disasters. The Star of Bengal was traveling from Wrangell to San Francisco when it went down on September 20, 1908, near Coronation Island in southeastern Alaska's Alexander Archipelago. The 264-foot ship, which was built in the same shipyard as the Titanic, was carrying around 140 people when it sank. Of the 110 souls that perished, the vast majority were seasonal Asian workers hired to work in local Alaskan canneries. The wreck was found to be scattered across nearly...