Suzanne Downing: Murkowski and the magician’s art of redirection

By SUZANNE DOWNING

June 9, 2026 – Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s  latest Arctic resolution is all noise, no signal.

After returning from a bipartisan, all-woman Senate delegation tour of Canada, Greenland, Norway, and Iceland, Sen. Lisa Murkowski has teamed up with Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire to introduce yet another “Sense of the Senate” resolution on Arctic policy.

If that sounds impressive, think again.

The resolution is not a law. It does not authorize a single activity. It neither builds a port, buys an icebreaker, strengthens a military installation, improves telecommunications, expands energy production, or creates a single job in Alaska. It does not require anyone to do anything.

Instead, it is what Congress calls a “Sense of the Senate” resolution, essentially an official statement of opinion. It is Washington’s equivalent of issuing a strongly worded press release.

The resolution declares that the Arctic is strategically important to the United States and its allies. It supports cooperation with Arctic nations. It encourages stronger infrastructure, security, telecommunications resilience, maritime capabilities, scientific research, and preparedness. It affirms the role of Indigenous peoples in Arctic governance and endorses continued engagement with allies through NATO and other international forums.

In other words, it says things virtually everyone already knows.

The Arctic is strategically important? Duh.

Russia and China are increasing their presence in the region? We know, we know, already.

America should maintain relationships with Arctic allies? Of course we should. That is said many times ad nauseam.

The problem is that Alaska doesn’t suffer from a shortage of resolutions. It suffers from a shortage of action.

For years, Congress has produced resolutions, statements, declarations, strategies, frameworks, roadmaps, and reports concerning the Arctic. The language changes slightly. The press releases are rewritten. The photos are updated. But the result is largely the same: another document expressing concern about issues everyone already recognizes.

The timing of the resolution is also notable.

Murkowski has spent the past week facing criticism from conservatives after voting against the SAVE Act, legislation designed to strengthen election integrity by requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration in federal elections. Whether one supports or opposes that bill, it would have had a direct policy impact. It would have changed federal law.

This Arctic resolution changes nothing. It’s the magician’s art of redirection. “Look, over here!”

There is also an unmistakable political backdrop to the timing. Murkowski’s partnership with Shaheen comes as former Rep. Mary Peltola is attempting to unseat Sen. Dan Sullivan in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races. Peltola has built her political brand around bipartisanship and cooperation with Democrats and moderate Republicans, and resolutions like this reinforce that narrative.

While Dan Sullivan has focused heavily on military readiness, energy development, resource production, and concrete Arctic investments, Murkowski’s latest effort emphasizes symbolism, international engagement, and bipartisan messaging.

Whether intentional or not, every high-profile partnership between Murkowski and Democrats just normalizes the political coalition Peltola (and Murkowski) hope to assemble in 2026, one that depends on persuading Alaska voters that partisan differences are less important than bipartisan consensus.

Murkowski has been stone cold silent on the fraud that has been committed by Decoy Dan, the Petersburg man who has filed to run against US Sen. Dan Sullivan. But she has time for a meaningless resolution on something Congress has repeatedly declared as important. Administrations of both parties have described the region as strategically vital. Lawmakers have warned about Russia and China for years. Federal officials have spoken endlessly about Arctic infrastructure, security, resilience, and cooperation.

At some point, a resolution like this is simply a waste of staff time and good paper. And an insult to the intelligence of Alaskans.

Suzanne Downing is founder and editor of The Alaska Story and is a longtime Alaskan.