Murkowski urges Congress to "stand up" and assert authority if Trump withholds funding

Source: CBS News

Updated on: February 20, 2025 / 11:37 AM EST


Washington — Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska on Wednesday urged her colleagues in Congress to reassert their constitutional authority and stand up to President Trump if he withholds funding approved by lawmakers through his mass firings of federal workers or severe cuts to federal agencies. "If the president, for instance, should seek to withhold federal funding that has already been authorized and appropriated, that violates the Budget Act, it violates the Impoundment Act and it cannot be allowed to stand. And so, if we in Congress allow that, we effectively cede some of our authority, and so, your question as to, what do we do about it?

We have to stand up," she said in a virtual town hall with constituents. "Now, the 'we' has to be more than just me. And this is where it becomes more of a challenge, but it requires speaking out. It requires saying, 'That violates the law. That violates the authorities of the executive,'" she said. The Alaska Republican said Congress has an "obligation to the Constitution" that requires "speaking out and standing up, and that requires, again, more than just one or two Republicans — it requires us as a Congress to do so."

The president's moves to essentially shutter several agencies and fire thousands of workers have already run into legal challenges, with federal courts across the country weighing whether his actions were lawful. The administration has been temporarily blocked from ousting workers and freezing funding in a handful of cases so far. Murkowski is a moderate Republican who has been in the Senate since 2002 and won reelection in 2022 despite longstanding differences with Mr. Trump.

She said more than 1,000 people dialed into the call on Wednesday, and that many of her constituents were concerned about the Trump administration's cuts, which are being spearheaded by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency. Alaska has one of the highest concentrations of federal government workers per capita outside the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region. Most Republican lawmakers have so far shown little interest in objecting as the Trump administration tries to whittle down agencies established and funded by Congress.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lisa-murkowski-congress-trump-funding/