When Americans speak of “America First,” we expect leaders to protect national resources, manage public funds responsibly, and hold the president accountable. Instead, the nation faces unchecked presidential excess and congressional passivity that betray both fiscal conservatism and responsible governance. Alaska’s congressional delegation: Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, and Representative Nick Begich, has failed to confront the Trump administration’s waste and recklessness.
Trump calls himself a great businessman, but his record tells another story. His failed casinos, airline, and fraudulent university show an inability to manage money. His public remarks often reveal confusion and glaring numerical errors, exposing a leader detached from financial reality. Yet Americans have once again trusted him with their wealth.
Trump’s record of waste is staggering. He approved a forty-billion-dollar payment to Argentina under the pretext of supporting an ally, money the United States is unlikely to recover. He accepted a luxury aircraft worth four hundred million dollars from the UAE, inviting questions about refitting costs and return favor. He has spent millions golfing almost every weekend. He used public funds to remodel the White House… inappropriately.
His economic policies are equally destructive. He pushed through enormous tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy while cutting health care for working Americans. He ordered unnecessary military maneuvers serving no purpose beyond political theater. He created a special immigration force that has consumed billions to target nonviolent immigrants who pose no threat to national security. He unlawfully fired thousands of federal employees, only to be overruled by the courts, forcing costly reinstatements. His government shutdowns have cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars per day. Each of these actions drains public funds while providing no benefit to ordinary citizens.
The result is a ballooning national debt that threatens America’s financial future. In less than a year, Trump’s renewed presidency has added trillions to the debt, with no plan to slow spending or raise revenue responsibly. The Congressional Budget Office projects record deficits for the next decade. This reckless borrowing handcuffs future generations, forcing them to pay for today’s vanity projects and political stunts. Every dollar wasted now will be repaid later through higher taxes, reduced benefits, and lost opportunities. Fiscal irresponsibility is not an abstraction; it is a betrayal of our children and grandchildren.
Traditional Republican conservatism once stood for balanced budgets, oversight of defense spending, and restraint in government. Trump’s version glorifies extravagance, rewards the wealthy, and piles debt upon the nation.
Congress should act as a constitutional safeguard, not a rubber stamp. Yet Alaska’s delegation has failed to fulfill that duty. Murkowski, Sullivan, and Begich have repeatedly supported the president or remained silent. Murkowski and Sullivan endorsed Trump’s bombing campaign against Iran, claiming it strengthened national security despite its enormous cost and uncertain purpose. They applauded his approval of major Alaska resource projects that rely on heavy federal subsidies and primarily serve well-connected interests. Such actions may play well politically at home but betray the principles of fiscal restraint.
Even more troubling is their unwillingness to challenge the president’s practice of impounding or redirecting congressionally approved funds. Congress alone controls the purse, yet Alaska’s representatives have allowed the president to divert taxpayer money for political purposes. They have praised the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which was created to reduce waste but instead inflated costs and manipulated accounting. Investigations show that its claimed savings are mostly fictional while real expenses continue to grow.
By refusing to challenge these abuses, Alaska’s congressional delegation has abandoned its constitutional responsibility. Their votes and silence have made them partners in waste. In doing so, they have enabled the president’s extravagance and helped accelerate the nation’s financial decline.
Trump’s 2024 campaign promised fiscal discipline, an end to waste, and a commitment to taxpayers. The reality is the opposite. He has spent freely on vanity projects, foreign handouts, and tax favors for the elite. The burden of his mismanagement now falls on working Americans who pay more and receive less.
The Alaska delegation must decide whether they serve the people of Alaska or the president. Their silence makes them complicit in the squandering of America’s wealth and in the rapid expansion of a national debt that endangers the nation’s future. Murkowski, Sullivan, and Begich have the power to stop wasteful spending but have chosen not to act. That failure is more than political weakness; it is a betrayal of the American people.
Van Abbott is a longtime resident of Ketchikan, first arriving in 1984. He served as assistant finance director for the City of Ketchikan and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and was Ketchikan Public Utilities’ Telecommunications division manager for over a decade. He also has lived in Fairbanks for six years and Anchorage for five.
