Sen. Lisa Murkowski made the “agonizing” decision to vote for Senate Republicans’ version of the “big, beautiful” bill after winning key concessions on federal health and food-aid programs for her state.
“Did I get everything I wanted? Absolutely not,” Murkowski told reporters after the vote.
But Murkowski touted changes she secured to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that would allow for “greater flexibility” for Alaska and extra support for rural hospitals “that is going to be very key.” Senate Republicans also removed a controversial tax on solar and wind energy projects — a change Murkowski had pushed for. She also said she wanted to see President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts extended.
“I had to look on balance, because the people in my state are the ones that I put first,” Murkowski said. “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.”
Murkowski said she’s urged both the White House and top Hill Republicans to send the bill to conference rather than ramming it back through the House this week, and slammed the “artificial” timeline Trump and GOP leaders had set of speeding the bill to his desk by July 4.
“I’ve urged the White House that I think that more process is needed to this bill, because I would like to see a better outcome for people in this country,” she said.
Trump appeared to waver on his July 4 deadline Tuesday, telling reporters “I think it’s very hard to do.”
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