JUNEAU — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski says a proposed $1.3 billion cut to the Coast Guard’s budget conflicts with President Donald Trump’s goal of strengthening border security and rebuilding the armed services.
The Alaska Republican outlined her concerns in a letter to Trump, released Monday.
She says the cuts proposed by the Office of Management and Budget would have “far-reaching implications on national security” and force the Coast Guard to halt a program in which it replaces older ships with state-of-the-art vessels built in U.S. shipyards.
Without replacements for failing ships, she says, the agency would have to choose where to focus its resources.
Murkowski cited a need for a physical presence in the Arctic, an area in which she says the U.S. lags because the Coast Guard lacks sufficient ice-breaking capability.
