GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Iran, Medicaid cuts, and her “lonely” place in Trump’s GOP

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski joins Margaret Hoover to discuss her new memoir “Far from Home,” in which she reflects on her rise in Washington, D.C. and her role as a moderate Republican in the time of Donald Trump.

“My place in the middle is often uncomfortable, sometimes lonely,” Murkowski tells Margaret. “But it's where I feel I belong.”

While she maintains only Congress can declare war, Murkowski defends President Trump's strikes against Iran. And as the Senate debates Trump’s“Big Beautiful Bill,” she warns that shifting Medicaid costs to states could cut services for the most vulnerable Americans.

After losing her primary to a Tea Party challenger in 2010, Murkowski defied her own party and waged a successful write-in campaign to save her seat. In 2022, she fended off another challenge from a fellow Republican endorsed by Trump. She reflects on how Alaska’s election reforms have reduced partisanship and given her freedom to put her state’s interests ahead of her party.

Murkowski also discusses the importance of public broadcasting to her constituents as the Trump administration looks to cut federal funds, whether the country has entered a new era of political violence, and whether she has made a decision on running for reelection in 2028.

Support for “Firing Line for Margaret Hoover” is provided by Robert Granieri, The Tepper Foundation, Vanessa and Henry Cornell, The Fairweather Foundation, Peter and Mark Kalikow, Pritzker Military Foundation, Cliff and Laurel Asness, The Meadowlark Foundation, The Beth and Ravenel Curry Foundation, Charles R. Schwab, The Marc Haas Foundation, Katharine J. Rayner, Damon Button, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, The Philip I Kent Foundation, Annie Lamont through The Lamont Family Fund, Lindsay and George Billingsley, The Susan Rasinski McCaw Fund, Cheryl Cohen Effron and Blair Effron, and Al and Kathy Hubbard. Corporate funding is provided by Stephens Inc.