Three Senate Republicans balked at their party’s domestic policy megabill — the inaptly named One Big Beautiful Bill Act — but opponents of the far-right package needed a fourth. They thought Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska would rescue the nation from the consequences of the radical legislation, but GOP leaders offered a series of carve-outs and schemes that would help shield her home state from the effects of the party’s agenda. She took the deal.
But after Murkowski cast the deciding vote, she did something unexpected. In fact, she took two unexpected steps.
First, the Alaskan trashed the reconciliation package shortly after voting for it, which was every bit as odd as it sounds. “Do I like this bill? No,” she told NBC News. The senator added, by way of social media: “[L]et’s not kid ourselves. … While we have worked to improve the present bill for Alaska, it is not good enough for the rest of our nation — and we all know it.”
Second, Murkowski effectively asked the Republican-led House not to pass the bill she had just voted for. “My sincere hope is that this is not the final product,” she wrote online. “This bill needs more work across chambers and is not ready for the president’s desk. We need to work together to get this right.”
That came on the heels of related comments the GOP senator made to reporters on Capitol Hill. “We do not have a perfect bill by any stretch of the imagination. My hope is that the House is going to look at this and recognize that we’re not there yet.”
Not only did House Republican leaders ignore Murkowski’s appeals, they never even considered the possibility. Politico reported:








