Murkowski is the key to getting the Biden agenda passed
I don't think she goes Independent but her voting record shows promise. Further, her Sen. career overlaps both Harris and Biden, so she has worked with them before. AK also seems to be leaning left on environmental issues as the warming affects them quicker and stronger than the lower 48.
"Murkowski is considered a moderate Republican.[35][36] Since she was reelected in 2010, some have deemed her voting record "more moderate" than that of her previous years in the Senate.[37] In 2013, the National Journal gave Murkowski a composite score of 56% conservative and 45% liberal[38] and ranked her the 56th most liberal and 44th most conservative member of the Senate.[39]
According to GovTrack, Murkowski is the second most liberal Republican senator and, as of 2017, is placed by GovTrack's analysis to the left of all Republicans except Susan Collins, and to the left of Democratic Senator Joe Manchin.[40] The New York Times arranged Republican senators by ideology and also ranked Murkowski the second most liberal Republican.[41][42] According to FiveThirtyEight, which tracks Congressional votes, she voted with Trump's position approximately 74% of the time as of April 2020.[43] According to CQ Roll Call, Murkowski voted with President Barack Obama's position 72.3% of the time in 2013, one of only two Republicans voting for his positions over 70% of the time.[44]
In 2018, she voted "present" on the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States as a favor to Senator Steve Daines.[45] In 2020, she voted against procedural motions to accelerate Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation to that court, though she later voted to confirm Barrett.[46]
In a March 2019 op-ed for The Washington Post, Murkowski and Joe Manchin wrote that climate change debate in Congress was depicted as "an issue with just two sides—those who support drastic, unattainable measures to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and those who want to do nothing" and affirmed their support for "adopting reasonable policies that maintain that edge, build on and accelerate current efforts, and ensure a robust innovation ecosystem."[47]
In December 2020, during his lame-duck period, Trump vetoed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021.[48] The veto left new Coast Guard cutters that were scheduled to be homeported in Alaska without port facilities to maintain them.[48] Murkowski issued a press release that said, in part, "It’s incredible that the President chose to veto the annual National Defense Authorization Act, particularly because his reason for doing so is an issue not related to national defense."[48]
After Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, Murkowski said Trump should resign for inciting the insurrection. With this call for his resignation, she became the first Republican in the Senate to say that Trump should leave office before the inauguration of Joe Biden. When asked whether she would remain a Republican, she replied, "if the Republican Party has become nothing more than the party of Trump, I sincerely question whether this is the party for me",[49] but added, “I have absolutely no desire to move over to the Democratic side of the aisle. I can't be somebody that I'm not."[50]"
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