GOP’s Murkowski Rips Trump’s Downsizing Of Government: ‘More Harm Than Good’

Moderate Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has voiced her opposition to President Donald Trump’s initiative to significantly reduce the size of the federal government. At a time when he needs full party support to counter opposition from Democrats and Democrat-led legal groups, Murkowski’s stance adds another challenge to his efforts.

Last week, Murkowski expressed concerns regarding the potential impact of the workforce reduction on her state.

The White House executed a broad dismissal of probationary federal employees across several agencies on Thursday and Friday. As noted by the Washington Times, probationary employees are typically those who have been hired within the last two years.

Under the president’s directive, thousands of workers have lost their jobs. Murkowski, who has frequently been at odds with Trump, stated that “potentially over 100” employees were terminated in her state alone.

“Dozens of Alaskans – potentially over 100 in total – are being fired as part of the Trump administration’s reduction-in-force order for the federal government,” she wrote.

“Many of these abrupt terminations will do more harm than good, stunting opportunities in Alaska and leaving holes in our communities. We can’t realize our potential for responsible energy and mineral development if we can’t permit projects. We will be less prepared to manage summer wildfires if we can’t support those on the front lines. Our tourism economy will be damaged if we don’t maintain our world-class national parks and forests,” she added.

“I share the administration’s goal of reducing the size of the federal government, but this approach is bringing confusion, anxiety, and now trauma to our civil servants—some of whom moved their families and packed up their whole lives to come here. Indiscriminate workforce cuts aren’t efficient and won’t fix the federal budget, but they will hurt good people who have answered the call to public service to do important work for our nation,” Murkowski’s post continued.

“My staff and I are in close touch with agency and department officials, trying to get answers about the impact of these terminations. Our goal is to forestall unnecessary harm—for people and Alaska’s federal priorities—but the response so far has been evasive and inadequate,” she concluded.

Trump’s initiative to reduce the federal workforce followed his recent offer for federal employees to voluntarily resign. Approximately 75,000 workers, or 3.3% of the government workforce, accepted the buyout offer.

Beyond reducing staff and agencies, Trump has appointed several Cabinet members with the mission of enacting significant reforms within their respective departments.

One such appointment is Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has committed to being the “disrupter” the agency has needed for years.

“We are 4.2 percent of the world’s population. We buy 70 percent of the pharmaceutical drugs on earth,” he told host Laura Ingraham last week. “We spend two to three times what other countries spend for healthcare, and we have the worst health outcomes.

“We literally have the sickest population in the world. Those are the people that got us there,” he continued, referring to major pharmaceutical companies. “We do need a break. We need somebody different who can come in and say, ‘I’m a disrupter.’ I’m not gonna let the food industry and the pharmaceutical industry run health policy anymore.”

He further stated: “We’re gonna turn health policy over to people who are actually concerned with public health.”

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In an email confirming his full Senate approval on Thursday, Kennedy’s team declared, “The future of public health is about to change forever. This is a turning point for our nation. With RFK Jr. at the helm, the battle for accountability and real health reform is just getting started.”

Additionally, on Thursday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to establish the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which will be overseen by Kennedy, Fox News Digital exclusively reported.