U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) responded to accusations he’s avoiding constituents by declaring he engaged in “the ultimate town hall” Thursday before the Alaska Legislature, answering a broad range of questions from lawmakers at the Alaska State Capitol.

Dozens of protesters lined the hall leading to the House chamber before the speech, many accusing Sullivan of the elusiveness occurring among GOP lawmakers nationwide to avoid combative town halls. But he fielded aggressive questions about the Trump administration’s mass firing of federal employees, funding freezes, international chaos and other issues following a nearly hour-long floor speech to the Legislature.

“When you want to talk about a town hall, that was the ultimate town hall,” Sullivan said during a press conference following the floor session. “There’s 60 elected officials who could ask me any question they wanted on any topic they wanted, and they represent the people.”

Sullivan engaged in the longest question-and-answer session among Alaska’s three congressional members during their appearances before the Legislature this year. However, the 19-member Republican House minority sent a letter to Sullivan after his appearance apologizing for “unnecessary grilling and regrettable rhetoric” by their mostly Democratic colleagues in the majority caucuses.

“While we would fully understand if this experience left you hesitant to return, we earnestly hope it will not deter you from gracing us with your presence and wisdom in the future,” the letter states.

Later on Thursday, 167 people held an empty-chair town hall for the senator at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library, with some attendees protesting him that same morning. Similar events occurred when Sullivan visited Fairbanks and Anchorage earlier this week.

Sullivan’s speech on Thursday was largely celebratory of President Donald Trump’s agenda. It also was filled with constant references to Trump’s Jan. 20 executive order nixing federal regulations that prevent maximum utilization of natural resources in Alaska such as oil, minerals and timber. He contrasted this with what he claimed were 70 executive orders and actions by the Biden administration targeting Alaska’s economy for the last four years.

“On his first day in office President Trump sent Alaska, America and the world an unmistakable message that unleashing Alaska’s extraordinary resources and jobs in a growing economy is one of his administration’s top priorities,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan also touted an order signed by U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum detailing specific actions his department plans to pursue to carry out Trump’s executive order. The provisions include opening more 80% of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to development and reinstating a leasing program for the entire 1.56-million-acre coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

However, economic analysts say the odds of a recession are rising due to instability caused by Trump policies such as tariffs, with the president earlier this month declining to rule out that possibility. Policy experts have also stated any significant gains from resource activity in Alaska is likely years away — if they ever happen — due to legal challenges, finding willing investors and the political whims of the next president.

Rep. Sara Hannan (D-Juneau) asked Sullivan a question many protesters who stood outside the House chamber sought the answer to.

“What are you going to do to stop the arrogant, far-away-with-little-understanding-knowledge-of-Alaska indiscriminate firings of Alaskans working for the federal government that are critical to our economy, our safety, our fishermen management, weather observations, to Forest Service and Park Service employees that are critical in our tourism industry that is about to start?” Hannan asked. “Are you going to use the power of appropriation and push this impounding of funds to get our Alaskans back to work that were indiscriminately fired?”

In response to her question, Sullivan referenced handout materials he gave to the Legislature, including Trump’s executive order, “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential.”

Specifically, the order directs agencies to immediately end “the assault on Alaska’s sovereignty and its ability to responsibly develop…for the benefit of the Nation” and “rescind, revoke, revise, amend, defer, or grant exemptions from any and all regulations, orders, guidance documents, policies, and any other similar agency actions” that burden Alaska.

Sullivan, exhibiting a “federal awards inquiry” form, said if people with concerns can document how a Trump action is at odds with those goals, then a remedy can be pursued.

The form was not available on Sullivan’s website as of Thursday evening.

Hannan, in an interview following the senator’s address, said she thought his response was “a justification for a president he seems to adore.”

“I think every weather service employee’s mission in Alaska is critical,” she said. “That I should write that down and explain to you on a form to push back to the Trump administration, I found ridiculous. Monitoring weather in Alaska is critical for so many things he talked about in his speech — fishing, aviation, the military — and when you don’t have those employees working we don’t have the data.”

She added that Sullivan is focused on developing resource land, but the layoffs of U.S. Forest Service and national park employees directly impact tours at the Mendenhall Glacier, Glacier Bay National Park, and Denali National Park and Preserve.

U.S. National Park Service wildlife biologist Gregory Larsen, whose firing last month was among the thousands declared illegal by federal judges, said he has gone back to work “for now.” He held a sign about fired employees while he waited for Sullivan’s arrival at the House chamber and said he is uncertain about his job security moving forward.

Marian Call, a Juneau resident, said she and others do not feel heard by Sullivan.

“It was important to show up with signs today because Sen. Sullivan is not doing town hall meetings and is not doing a good job of answering constituents when we get in touch with him about issues,” she said. “It’s very frustrating to see him doing expensive $100-a-plate dinners with access to him and showing up here to address our Legislature, but not having any opportunity for actual constituents to talk to him when we have a lot to say right now. It felt important to express ourselves however we can, and to make sure that other Alaskans are aware that it is a senator’s job to listen to us and that he is not doing his job.”

State Sen. Forrest Dunbar (D-Anchorage) asked a balance-of-powers question similar to his inquiry for U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) during her appearance before the Legislature on Tuesday. Dunbar said his constituents are concerned “we are in a constitutional crisis” because the Trump administration, in addition to openly defying court orders, is intruding on Congress by seeking massive cuts to programs whose funding is authorized by the legislative branch.

“They worry that you have no red line when it comes to Trump or (senior advisor Elon) Musk,” Dunbar said. “They worry about a looming nationwide economic downturn caused by the decisions being made in D.C., and most of all they worry about their own families and the benefits to sustain them. So I wanted to ask you directly: yes or no — will you oppose any cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security?”

Sullivan did not provide a direct “yes” or “no” answer.

“We’re working on all these issues,” Sullivan replied. He observed that roughly one-third of Alaskans receive Medicaid benefits, and “I think our goal should be to increase our private sector economy and increase the opportunities for people to move off Medicaid and get private sector insurance.”

Sullivan’s visit to the Capitol was followed by a meeting with officials at Bartlett Regional Hospital. Joe Wanner, the hospital’s CEO, said at a board of directors meeting last month that 100,000 Alaskans could lose Medicaid benefits under cuts passed by the U.S. House and backed by Trump.

“Most people that I know who are receiving Medicaid are working two, three jobs, very much trying to keep their heads above water and there’s a lot of myths out there that people are not working hard and they’re abusing by their having to use Medicaid,” Rep. Andi Story (D-Juneau) said. “I think he needs to look into that deeper because most people I know are working very hard and their incomes just aren’t high enough.”

Discussions between both chambers of Congress on a final spending plan are now occurring, with the Senate so far declining to support the House’s level of cuts.

Social Security emerged as another major concern this week when the agency announced it is ending phone support as of March 31, requiring people to file for claims online or in person at a field office. Alaska has only three field offices in Juneau, Anchorage and Fairbanks, and an estimated 60,000 residents in rural parts of the state lack broadband access. Sullivan and Murkowski both say they oppose the new policy and will seek changes.

Sullivan also separated himself from Trump on a few other particularly contentious recent actions, including calls by administration officials to ignore judicial orders the president disagrees with and/or seek the impeachment of such judges.

“My view is that administrations should follow the law,” Sullivan said. “And if they don’t like court rulings, they should appeal them.”

The senator also made it clear he considers Russia the aggressor in the war in Ukraine, in contrast to Trump, who has blamed Ukraine for being invaded by its larger neighbor.

But Sullivan was confronted by Rep. Andrew Gray (D-Anchorage) about Trump’s embrace of Russia — including ending a U.S. project documenting alleged war crimes against Ukraine — while calling Canada “one of the nastiest countries.”

“Senator, how are you pushing back on the White House and this whiplash-inducing change in foreign policy regarding the two countries that border our great state?” Gray asked.

Sullivan reiterated, “You’ve heard me say (Russia is) the country that invaded Ukraine, not the other way around.” He also voiced support for Trump’s stance toward Russia since “I think what’s happening now is the president has been putting an enormous amount of effort into bringing this war to a close” — although critics say it appears the terms require Ukraine to surrender territory to Russia and sign over a large percentage of its mineral wealth to the U.S.

In his speech, he commented on the U.S-Russian Federation Seafood Reciprocity Act of 2023 that focused “on leveling the playing field against Russia on unfair seafood trade” and stopped Russian seafood exports from entering the U.S. market after being processed in China.

“It took a long time, but we fixed this unfair situation, working with the Biden administration, that was devastating our fishermen,” he said. “Then the Russians tried to use a loophole through China to avoid these sanctions—the Chinese Communist loophole. But we shut that down as well.”

The senator did not address the concerns raised about Canada, which Trump has belittled as the “51st state” and imposed tariffs on that are resulting in retaliatory economic actions and travel boycotts by Canadians.

State Sen. Jesse Kiehl (D-Juneau) said in an interview that he has heard from constituents concerned about the impacts of tariffs on Skagway, Haines, and Juneau. Additionally, he said many Canadians visit Alaska.

“We’re going to notice it if they stop,” he said. “We’ll notice it less in Juneau, but it will be a kick in the teeth for Haines and Skagway. The number of Canadians who come down and play by the water and by the rivers every year is significant. Business owners up there in those communities are really worried. They also get a lot of their groceries and their hardware out of Whitehorse. Whitehorse’s diesel fuel all comes on a truck from Skagway. We are tied at the hip. What I have said to all three members of our congressional delegation is, please use any influence you can with the president to work through issues, but not get in a horrible fight with Canada.”

He said while Sullivan did not directly respond to a Juneau legislative delegation letter on the impacts of federal firings, he has been responsive on other issues. Kiehl said Sullivan and the other members of the Alaska congressional delegation are committed to accelerating the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study on the Mendenhall Valley flood to find a long-term solution. He also said Sullivan worked to unfreeze a federal grant that Klukwan had for riverbank stabilization.

“He and his staff jumped on that and got the money unfrozen, and Klukwan is able to order all their materials and sign their contracts with no cost overruns, no delays,” Kiehl said.

All three of Juneau’s legislators will hold a mid-session town hall on Thursday, March 27, at the Mendenhall Valley Public Library at 5:30 p.m.

“We’re always accessible, phone rings, email pings, but it’s also important to go where people are and get in touch with them, and be accessible face to face because that’s how human beings best connect to each other,” Kiehl said.

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356. Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.