Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, speaks to members of the media after leaving a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing a hearing on the effects of artificial intelligence on American families and the workforce on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)

Alaska’s U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski on Saturday called for members of Congress to work together to end a government shutdown on its 18th day.

“We’re not going to be able to address the issues of our government unless we can come together,” Murkowski said in a speech at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention held in Anchorage. “Unity is what we need to end a government shutdown.”

Murkowski is one of a small number of Republicans in Congress who has regularly called for bipartisanship and working across the aisle.

Since the beginning of the month, Congress has been at a standstill. The House hasn’t been in session for a month. Alaska’s lone U.S. House member, Republican Rep. Nick Begich, didn’t mention the shutdown during his speech Saturday speech at the convention. Republican leaders are refusing to negotiate until a short-term funding bill to reopen the government is passed while Democrats say they won’t agree without guarantees on extending health insurance subsidies.

“There is nothing good that comes from a government shutdown. No money is saved. Nobody wins,” Murkowski said, eliciting applause from a crowd of hundreds.

[Shutdown impact: What it means for workers, federal programs and the economy]

Murkowski said she had put forward a proposal to fund government while continuing health insurance tax credits — which are set to end this year without action from Congress, substantially raising insurance rates for thousands of Alaskans — and taking other steps to push back against the administration of President Donald Trump, including reinstating funding for public broadcasting that congressional Republicans rescinded earlier this year at Trump’s request.

“I put in what I thought was a constructive solution out there to avoid harmful increases in health care premiums, that would advance our appropriations bill, that would provide funding for public broadcasting, and it would halt the administration’s effort to claw back funding that we had already approved in Congress,” she said.

Meanwhile, Murkowski said she was glad that Trump had taken steps to ensure that military members were paid during the first two weeks of the shutdown. However, she criticized Trump’s threat not to back-pay federal employees when the shutdown ends, as has been the practice during previous shutdowns.

It “is wrong to have their work halted and to know that they’re not certain whether or not they’re going to get paid,” Murkowski said.

“Congress’ failure to do our work is inexcusable,” Murkowski added. “Instead of blaming the other side, let’s solve the issue.”

Murkowski compared the partisan blame game in Congress — which has escalated as Trump administration officials have blamed Democrats for the impacts of the shutdown in public-facing messaging — to childhood interactions between her two sons during road trips.

“When they were sitting in the back seat, they were doing what boys are doing. They’re poking at one another,” Murkowski described. “They’re like, ‘Well, he started it.’ ‘No, he started it.’”

“And you say, ‘I don’t care who started it. Knock it off, or I’m going to stop the car, and we’re going to have a conversation,’” said Murkowski.

“I feel like we need to stop the car and get Congress working again,” she concluded.