A Republican Senator who heavily criticized the Trump-backed "one big, beautiful" tax and spending bill before ultimately voting in favor of it has once again criticized the bill despite supporting it in Congress.
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski expressed her feelings regarding the tax and spending bill while answering questions from journalists during a 25-minute phone news conference on Tuesday.
"I've been really focused on making sure that the most vulnerable in our communities are not made more vulnerable by the provisions in this bill. There's a lot of good things in the bill, we recognize that. I wanted to get the tax cuts; I wanted to see those continued. That's significant," she began. "There's some good provisions on the tax side, everything from the child tax credit to some of the things with no tax on overtime, some of those things — the Coast Guard and many of the initiatives."
"This is not a perfect bill by any stretch of the imagination. I am not happy with the process. In fact, I'm really very disappointed in the process. When you're working on major legislation like this, to be dealing with a product that you're looking at for the first time in the middle of the night is not right," she continued.
"But I needed to make sure that Alaska's interests were represented. I think I did, I think I did well by the state, in terms of trying to get these accommodations. We've got some flexibility working with the departments that we've received both from CMS (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) and from the secretary of agriculture. But I think quite honestly, we've got more work to do," said Murkowski.
"I don't know whether the House is going to accept this, and I don't know whether the president is going to continue to demand that it be passed before the Fourth of July. I think that's a mistake. I think there is more work that can be done jointly between the House and the Senate, and I would welcome that and work that, with every effort that I can make," she added.
Murkowski has previously been incredibly critical of the legislation, condemning the cuts the bill attempts to make to Medicaid access and food-assistance programs for her constituents.
"There was a lot in this bill that, believe me, my team was not enthusiastic about at all," Murkowski said. "We have unique conditions in Alaska that make work requirements really hard. We have a high error rate when it comes to SNAP benefits that is going to penalize us."
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