U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, delivered an annual address to the Alaskan Legislature at 11 a.m. on Feb 18. More than 30 protesters gathered outside the capitol and in the hallway before the chamber.<\/p>\n
“We do not consent,” protesters chanted, citing grievances with Sullivan’s approach towards healthcare, climate change, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wealth inequality, Epstein and military expansion.<\/p>\n
Sullivan addressed Medicare in his speech which focused on “Alaska’s comeback” from the Biden Administration, characterized by the Working Families Tax Cut Act of July, 2025.<\/p>\n
“The bill does not touch Medicare,” Sullivan said in his speech. “In fact, it strengthens medicare by adding what is called a doc fix, which ensures medicare patients will continue to be able to get the help they need from their doctor.”<\/p>\n
According to the Congressional Budget Office, the WFTCA affects Medicare spending by mandating new legislation be deficit neutral or else a percentage of funds for programs like Medicare may be sequestered.<\/p>\n
Up to $490 billion may be sequestered from Medicare between 2027 and 2034, the CBO estimates.<\/p>\n
$1.36 billion of that sum may be offset for Alaskan’s by the Rural Health Transformation Program. Although self-employed Alaskans, frontline workers and basic clinical care, like broadband or facility expansion, may not be funded by the RHTP, said Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, in a question to Sullivan, who acknowledged he was “not aware of those restrictions.”<\/p>\n
Sullivan also highlighted resource extraction and military investment in Alaska as key components of the WFTCA.<\/p>\n
Sullivan also advocated for the AKLNG project in his speech, which could more than double Alaska’s projected 2026 oil production by 2030.<\/p>\n
Over $100 billion are committed in the WFTCA for military projects in Alaska, according to Sullivan’s website. Totaling the spending across America, this constitutes the biggest military investment since World War II.<\/p>\n
“‘Hey marines, aren’t you usually the first to fight,’ get on with it, let’s go!” Sullivan said of the expansion.<\/p>\n
Outside the chamber, protester Barbara Learmonth attributed her advocacy to her father’s service in WWII, which earned him a Purple Heart.<\/p>\n
Learmonth listened to Executive Director of Stand Up Alaska, Erin Jackson-Hill, criticize Sullivan for his tacit compliance with the Trump administration, consistently voting on party lines,<\/p>\n
“His complicity is consent, and we do not consent,” Learmonth chanted, following Jackson-Hill’s lead.<\/p>\n
When asked by Sen. Forrest Dunbar, D-Anchorage, whether he would “say ‘no’” to Trump if he deployed federal forces in Alaska or purged the Alaskan voter registry, Sullivan did not respond directly.<\/p>\n
“I disagree with them on some of the funding freezes, some of the layoffs of federal employees,” Sullivan said of the Trump administration.<\/p>\n
During his speech, Sullivan described a “pendulum” of Republican and Democratic administrations using executive orders, which create uncertainty in the Alaskan market. Being a law, the WFTCA creates certainty, according to Sullivan.<\/p>\n
More than 225 executive orders have been issued in the year since Trump began his second term. In the four years Biden was in office, 162 executive orders were issued.<\/p>\n
Sullivan berated the Democrats, playing partisan lines throughout his speech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Protesters booed, shouted ‘coward’ as Sullivan approached the chamber with, ‘good morning, everybody.’ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3363,"featured_media":127208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1077],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-127207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top-news"],"yoast_head":"\n