The Hill’s Changemakers: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska)

Correction: A group that supports ranked-choice voting in Alaska raised more than $12 million to defeat a ballot initiative to repeal it. Incorrect information appeared in an earlier version of this piece.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) has always been an important moderate Republican and crucial swing vote in the Senate, but her profile is rising further with the retirement of centrist Sens. Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah). 

Murkowski was a key player in the passage of the biggest bipartisan accomplishments of President Biden’s time in office, such the $1 trillion infrastructure bill. 

She was also a pivotal vote in some of the biggest battles of President-elect Trump’s first term: voting against a proposal to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act and coming out against Brett Kavanaugh’s controversial nomination to the Supreme Court amid sexual assault allegations. 

Murkowski set the tone for Senate Republicans in responding to former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s (R-Fla.) short-lived selection to head the Justice Department, calling his nomination “unserious.” 

She will be a senator to watch closely as Republicans tussle over the size of Trump’s next tax cut and how much to reduce federal spending to offset its impact on the federal deficit. 

A champion of bipartisanship and pragmatism, Murkowski will be likely involved in any bipartisan deals that emerge in the Senate during Trump’s term. 

She is also the highest-profile proponent of ranked-choice voting in the Senate, something she defended in Alaska this fall in an expensive battle over a ballot initiative to get rid of it. Supporters of ranked-choice voting in Alaska raised more than $12 million to defeat the repeal initiative.

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Murkowski will be at the center of spending talks that will dominate Trump’s first few months in office as Republicans are expected to punt work on the unfinished fiscal 2025 bills into next year. 

—Updated Dec. 19 at 1:21 p.m.