Now that President Donald Trump has broken much of the federal government, U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III says he’s open to hearing from people about which pieces should be fixed. But there’s also more things that need breaking.
Firing nearly all of the staff at the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center during the past week, for instance, appears to be a situation where evaluation is needed to ensure Juneau’s biggest tourist attraction is functional a couple months from now, Begich said.
Conversely, he said it’s “unacceptable” a long-term solution to safeguard local homes from glacial outburst floods may take a decade to implement, although he acknowledged he’s unfamiliar with what “red tape” regulations should be nixed to achieve quicker results.
Those two major Juneau issues were reflective of remarks by Begich, a Republican just beginning his first term as Alaska’s lone U.S. House member, during two speeches Thursday to the Alaska State Legislature and Greater Juneau Chamber of Commerce. He is in town for a few days this week for meetings with various political, business, community and other groups.
Begich, amidst fielding a broad range of friendly and confrontational questions on a multitude of issues, acknowledged things are moving fast so far — for better or worse.
“I’ve never seen a greater level of political velocity than what we’ve seen in these first few weeks,” he said during his Chamber speech.
U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, address a joint session of the Alaska Legislature on Thursday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
The deluge of federal firings, freezes on federal funds and other actions by the Trump administration is resulting in widespread disruption — which supporters have stated is their intention — with Begich saying he does want to work with concerned constituents about cuts and actions that are adversely affecting Alaskans.
“I recognize the process won’t be perfect and because I know that I want to make sure that we are advocating for the right kinds of people and programs that we need,” he said during his appearance before a joint session of the Legislature.
When asked by the Empire after his speeches if such assessments should have been done by the Trump administration before firing thousands of federal workers simply because they were probationary employees, Begich said “I’m not a party to every single decision in every single agency as it is being made, but I do have the ability to go back and advocate for Alaska on important positions and important programs.”
A potential obstacle for people seeking such advocacy is contacting Begich and other members of Congress may prove challenging due to communications systems being overwhelmed by people trying to reach lawmakers.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, wrote in a Feb. 5 social media message “The U.S. Senate phone system has been receiving around 1,600 calls each minute, compared to the 40 calls per minute we usually receive, which has disrupted our call systems.” Both Murkowski and Begich also experienced technical overload problems while hosting virtual town halls this week that kept vast numbers of people from connecting or cut them off after joining.
Furthermore, Begich, who proudly proclaims himself a member of Congress’ Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) caucus that aligns itself with the mass downsizing being overseen by billionaire Trump advisor Elon Musk, has on social media ridiculed people who are complaining about the cuts.
“Many on the left are criticizing the fact that there are young people working to identify waste and fraud in government spending,” he wrote in a Feb. 18 post. “What a terrible message from Democrats, suggesting that young people are not capable of doing great things. If anyone deserves to be involved in solving this problem it’s those set to inherit it!”
Among the things Begich said Thursday he is targeting is a declaration by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers experts that it will take five to ten years to develop a permanent solution to protect Mendenhall Valley homes from annual glacial outburst floods.
“No, that is not acceptable,” he said of the timeline, adding “I think that we do have an administration that has decided that they’re not going to adhere to too much red tape. So in this instance that could be very helpful for moving things quickly.”
A solution to protect homes beginning this summer by installing a semipermanent levee constructed from HESCO barriers, at a cost of about $6,300 for the 466 property owners in the neighborhood, has been approved by the Juneau Assembly, based on the recommendation of experts from the Corps of Engineers, which is providing the barriers. A citizens’ group Begich is meeting with this week has stated it wants an alternative solution such as a permanent levee around Mendenhall Lake, arguing it could be ready within months if federal regulations for the Forest Service land were set aside.
However, Deputy City Manager Robert Barr stated in an email in December to an advocate of the lake levee there are more than regulatory issues preventing it from being quickly built.
“Based on our conversations with the Army Corps of Engineers and other professionals in the field, it is impossible to build a lake levee prior to next summer,” Barr wrote. “There are many reasons, but perhaps the most significant is that any levee would have to be engineered sufficient to all but guarantee it would not fail, because in our case the consequences of a lake levee failure would be catastrophic.”
Begich, when asked after his speeches if he was aware of such warnings and the specifics involved in the timeline he calls unacceptable, said his meetings with the citizens’ group as well as local leaders will help him determine which solutions “may or may not be sufficient.”
Among the other concerns raised by questioners during his speeches was Trump’s challenges to the balance of power, including executive branch cuts occurring to congressionally approved funds and programs that legal officials say are unconstitutional. Begich said the courts are likely to be the forum where those are decided, but Trump and top administration officials are challenging the court’s authority to issue such rulings and suggesting they will not abide by them.
Another concern raised about Trump’s false statements — and policies based on them — was a question about the war in Ukraine asked by state Rep. Andy Josephson, an Anchorage Democrat. He noted Trump this week falsely blamed Ukraine for being invaded by Russia and is demanding Ukraine hand over half of its mineral wealth, worth about $500 billion, to the U.S. as part of a peace agreement that would also let Russia keep the Ukrainian territory it has seized.
“He’s supporting essentially the aggressor,” Josephson said. “He’s asking (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky to come to his knees and bend to a settlement there. And (Trump’s) actually saying that Ukraine started the war, which is completely inaccurate and everyone knows it.”
Begich didn’t directly respond to the concern about Trump’s false statements, declaring instead “I want to see peace in Ukraine, and I think that’s what the people of Ukraine deserve.” The congressman did, however, state “we have dramatically outspent all of Europe combined in supporting Ukraine’s effort at defending itself from Russian aggression, and so I think there has to be a limit to how much the U.S. taxpayer is asked to provide.”
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
