Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R., S.D.) could have chosen to shrink the bill’s debt-ceiling increase to sway Rand Paul (R. Ky.), or adjust the Medicaid provisions to woo Sen. Thom Tillis (R., N.C.) and Collins. Instead, he gave more to Alaska—and it worked.

The Republican senator tried to explain why she advanced a far-right megabill despite serious reservations, but her reasoning doesn’t make sense.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski took questions from Alaska reporters in a 25-minute phone news conference on Tuesday addressing her “Yes” vote for the controversial budget bill – dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” – which the U.