On a visit to Sitka Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski at an invitation-only roundtable with some Sitkans criticized President Trump on his campaign of mass firings of federal workers and cutting of Congressionally-approved funding for government agencies.

Her remarks in large measure repeated those she made in Juneau the previous day, in a speech to the Alaska Legislature.

The Trump Administration, in its first two months, moved to axe thousands of probationary employees across the federal civil service, including ten in Sitka. A federal judge has ordered those workers brought back to their positions, but there is uncertainty about their long-term employment.

Murkowski said Trump’s cuts go too far, and spoke of the public reaction they have created throughout the country.

"It's really unprecedented – what we're seeing right now in terms of the degree of animosity and just disrespect, I think, for the Federal Government writ large. And you know, I'm a Republican – people might say you're not a very good Republican – but I'm a Republican who believes that there is a role for our government, and I'm one that likes to think about more limited government, but government has a very specific role in place, and so those who go into government sector, public sector jobs, to your point, are not the enemy,” Murkowski told the room.

Attending the meeting were Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz, Sitka Tribe of Alaska CEO and Executive Manager Lisa Gassman, School District Superintendent Deidre Jenson, acting Deputy Forest Supervisor for the Tongass Eric Garner, and a number of representatives from local nonprofits such as Sitka Conservation Society and Sitka Trail Works.

Murkowski was blunt regarding the impact of the vast cuts to the federal workforce and her disagreement with the president's policy.

“We're dealing with an administration that has just declared war on public servants, without recognizing that they are part of it now,” the senator said. “Maybe they all came from the private sector, but now you're part of government, and so figure out how to make it work, not to dismantle it, or to suggest that there's no validity to the role of government.”

Having met with terminated federal workers while in Juneau this week, Murkowski noted that “almost all of them have been working their jobs for longer periods of time, and they were on probation because they've done well, not because they've done poorly.”

Staff members of federal agencies in Sitka have told the Sentinel they still expect a federally-ordered reduction in force (RIF) that will cut deeper into the ranks of long-term federal employees.

The sudden cuts to agencies left NOAA without a trawl fishery surveyor, and left the Mendenhall Glacier visitor center, a popular tourist site, badly understaffed just a month from the cruise ship season, Murkowski said. Other cuts briefly closed the halibut and sablefish IFQ fishery, but she said she was able to get the fisheries open by speaking with the new U.S. secretaries of state and commerce.

“It's been a really heavy time for me, because people are looking to give us some answers here, give us some certainty, and we just don't know what else is coming,” the senator said.

Sitka Priorities

Sitkans at the roundatable told Murkowski of their concerns. Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Rachel Roy stressed the housing shortage and lack of child care, and School Superintendent Deidre Jenson worried about the effect on local schools from the Trump administration's plan to eliminate the federal Department of Education.

Murkoswski shared her concern. "There is a clear direction out of the White House to get rid of the Department of Education. You might be able to get rid of staff, but you can't get rid of the mission or the requirements in law, the statutory requirements that students with disabilities are taken care of, lower income students, civil rights protections,” Murkowski said.

Replying to questions from Sitka Tribe of Alaska staff, Murkowski, as chair of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said she is working to ensure tribes continue to receive funding despite the administration’s efforts to end programs that involve diversity, equity or inclusion.

“We've been able to ensure that with this executive order related to diversity, equity, inclusion, that that does not impact our tribal programs, and make very clear that this is not race-based. This is political status," Murkowski said.

"… What I fear is that with cuts to different agencies that administer certain tribal programs, whether it's the tribal transportation program, or education or the like, that because of staffing issues, we will see impacts to programs. We're keeping a very close eye on those programs that we are concerned are in a funding freeze or pause, but that is something where, again, we need that input from you on what you are hearing,” she said.

“On the (Indian Health Service) side, we’re in a good place on the staffing cuts for now,” she added.

Mayor Steven Eisenbeisz told the senator that without federal funding, Sitkans will bear the full cost of improvements to city wastewater treatment.

“It's just going to stop the projects. Essentially wastewater, effluent disinfectant, it's EPA is mandated that we do this, and I don't disagree with it. The water that we'll be pumping out from our wastewater will then be cleaner than the ocean water itself, which I think is a good thing, but without the funding to do it, we now are the funders, and we've seen our water rates and wastewater rates jump exponentially in order to pay for it,” Eisenbeisz said.

More generally, the mayor said he has little reason to believe the president has Alaska’s best interests in mind.

“When the federal government turns its back on Alaska, it's absolutely devastating,” he said. “From my perspective, they want to cut, kill, dig, drill us until we're no longer the cash cow that they need, and we're forgotten about. That's not how we want to operate.”

He also expressed concern for the future of the Denali Commission, which has provided significant grants to the city, including $1 million for the ongoing boat haul-out project.

STA Tribal Council vice chair and Spruce Root Executive director Alana Peterson expressed worry regarding the administration’s attacks on community development financial institutions – such as Spruce Root – and are dependent on federal support.

“CDFIs are important for a host of different reasons,” Murkowski replied, “and so this is an area where you're seeing some real pushback” against Trump’s policies.

More generally, the administration’s freeze of some grant funding, the senator said, has in some cases had rapid, harmful impacts.

“It was initially the pause in funding on some of these grants. And it may be that, well, it's just a pause, it's not that it's been terminated,” she said. “But for so many, I think about some of the domestic violence shelters, they don't have the money to wait for a couple months, and so they're making decisions that are impacting the services that they're able to provide right now.”

Though Murkowski was emphatic in her criticism of Trump’s policies, she stressed the importance of working with the administration where possible.

“I didn't vote for him, but I still have to figure out a way to work with him for four years. I still have to figure out a way that I'm going to get the Secretary of State to return my texts, and the Secretary of Commerce to return my texts. And so I need to be able to tell them what is happening and why it's hurting,” she said.

Within the Republican party however, the senator said there is a demand for loyalty to the administration.

“Part of the of the challenge that we're seeing right now amongst Republicans is a concern that if you say, ‘Well, these cuts are hurting Alaskans,’ that it's viewed as it's not endorsing or not supporting the president, because the president is of my party, and he has said, through executive order or what have you, that this is the direction that he wants to take,” Murkowski said.

Following her roundtable discussion at Centennial Hall, Murkowski spoke at the Sheet’ka Kwaan Naa Kahidi at an event honoring Louis Minard, a Tlingit code talker in World War II. She bestowed a posthumous Congressional Medal of Recognition on Minard for his service to the country.

After the roundtable discussion, Murkowski also took questions from the Sentinel and KCAW Raven Radio on tariffs and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A story on those topics will appear in Friday’s Sentinel.