Murkowski won concession for Alaskans, but critics say it doesn't make up for the harm the budget reconciliation bill does, at home and in the Lower 48.

The Republican senator tried to explain why she advanced a far-right megabill despite serious reservations, but her reasoning doesn’t make sense.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who voted against the bill, said Republicans could have won his vote by changing a provision related to the government’s legal borrowing limit, but they chose “pork and subsidies for Alaska” instead. Asked about Paul’s comment by NBC News, Murkowski froze and gave a reporter a death stare.