Only three Republicans — Sens. Rand Paul (KY), Susan Collins (ME) and Thom Tillis (NC) voted against President Trump’s domestic policy bill which passed today (51-50) thanks to Vice President JD Vance’s tie-breaking vote.
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) has over the past weeks voiced concern regarding aspects of the bill, but she voted in favor of it.
As seen below, when NBC News Chief Capitol Hill Correspondent Ryan Nobles saw Murkowski walking in a hallway after the vote, he said: “Senator Paul said that your vote was a bailout for Alaska at the expense for the rest of the country,” which caused Murkowski to stop walking. She stood in front of Nobles in silence, and according to him, “she stared me down for more than 10 seconds.”
NEW: Sen. Lisa Murkowski stares me down for more than 10 secs after I ask her to respond to Sen. Rand Paul’s critique of the deal she struck to get her to a YES and pass the OBBB.
“Do I like this bill? No. But I tried to take care of Alaska’s interests.”
w/ @frankthorp pic.twitter.com/d8mku7RDct
— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) July 1, 2025
Nobles said, “I didn’t say it, ma’am, I’m just asking for your response.”
Murkowski said, “My response is I have an obligation to the people of the state of Alaska. And I live up to that every single day. I fight for my state’s interests and I make sure all Alaskans are understood.” Saying she works hard for her state, the Senator added, “So when people suggest that federal dollars goes to one of our 50 states in a quote bailout, I find that offensive. I advocated in my state’s interests.”
[Note: According to Nobles, Sen. Paul said the following about how the GOP got Murkowski’s vote: “There was a time in which they had to make a decision, dealing with me and reducing the debt ceiling or giving pork and subsidies to Alaska. They chose to add more pork and subsidies for Alaska to secure that.”]
Murkowski added, “Do I like this bill? No, because I tried to take care of Alaska’s interests but I know, I know that in many parts of the country, there are Americans that are not going to be advantaged by this bill. I don’t like that. I don’t like the fact that we moved through an artificial deadline, an artificial timeline, to produce something, to meet a deadline rather than to actually try to produce the best bill for the country.”