ANCHORAGE, Alaska — On Aug. 3, Alaska's U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan posted on social media a video he recorded at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in which he said he was preparing to return to Alaska to "keep explaining this One Big Beautiful Bill."

"There has been nothing better in a long time for the great state of Alaska," said Sullivan.

Every August, members of Congress return to their home districts for several weeks. This time around, the task for Sullivan, along with the two other members of Alaska's all-Republican congressional delegation, was to sell their legislative accomplishment from the preceding month: a behemoth budget reconciliation bill that offsets the extension of tax cuts by slashing spending on Medicaid.

Alaska's U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski faced searing criticism from many of her moderate and left-leaning supporters after she cast the deciding vote in favor of the bill's passage.

But the bill could prove more politically decisive for Sullivan and Alaska's only U.S. House member, Rep. Nick Begich, who both face reelection bids next year. Both Begich and Sullivan have sought to portray the bill as a triumph for the state, even as a majority of Alaskans indicated in a recent survey that they oppose it. Whether or not Sullivan and Begich succeed in convincing Alaskans could determine their political future.

In the days after Sullivan's video at the Lincoln Memorial, he met with President Donald Trump at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson ahead of the president's summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin; he went fishing on the Kenai; he attended a commissioning ceremony for a new Coast Guard icebreaker in Juneau; he accompanied the secretaries of housing, health and transportation as they visited Anchorage; he took a helicopter ride to examine Juneau flood damage; he visited a Navy strike group stationed in the Gulf of Alaska; and he went to the Alaska State Fair in Palmer.

Last Wednesday, a coalition of left-leaning groups in Anchorage sought to draw attention to one thing that Sullivan, Begich and Murkowski did not do during the recess: host a town hall open to the general public.

"We're here tonight because it is August recess in America, and that means — allegedly — the delegations of the members of Congress are home in their districts. Allegedly they are here. They are hiding," said Kristen Crowell, executive director of Fair Share America, a group that has orchestrated 48 such events across the country to denounce Republican members of Congress for passing the budget reconciliation bill.

"We are here tonight to make sure that they know exactly who they are accountable to," said Crowell, a Wisconsin resident, eliciting applause and cheers from an Anchorage crowd of several hundred.

GOP lawmakers across the country have faced pushback for limiting town halls amid criticism over the impacts of the budget reconciliation bill. But town halls have long been uncommon in Alaska.

Sullivan was met with boos during a 2017 gathering in Anchorage, and has generally stayed away from the format since. Alaska's longtime former U.S. representative, the late Don Young, famously avoided such events. Begich faced criticism earlier this year when he cut off a question from a Trump critic during a telephone town hall.

Murkowski has more regularly sought to hear from everyday Alaskans, most recently holding a February call that drew more than 1,000 Alaskans, during which she fielded questions about mass firings in the federal government and other contentious topics.

Sullivan declined multiple interview requests from the Daily News during the August recess. Sullivan's office backed out of plans for the senator to discuss the One Big Beautiful Bill Act with Daily News staff this month.

U.S. Rep. Nick Begich also declined multiple interview requests from the Daily News. U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski did not grant an interview to the Daily News, but answered questions from Alaska reporters in her Anchorage office shortly after the August recess began.

Sullivan's spokesperson Amanda Coyne said in a statement that "far-left-wing affiliated Democrat groups have been trying to scare Alaskans by spreading blatant falsehoods about the OBBB."

"Sullivan has been engaging directly with Alaskans across the state to set the record straight. Leading up to and during the August recess, Senator Sullivan held productive meetings with local city officials, chambers of commerce, rotary clubs, hospital leaders, Alaska Native health providers, housing advocates, members of Alaska's aviation community, veterans, service members, members of the Alaska state Legislature and employees at local businesses," Coyne wrote.

Opponents of the budget reconciliation bill say that the new Medicaid work requirements and more frequent eligibility checks it demands — which go into effect in 2027 — will do little to root out waste and fraud, but could cause thousands of eligible Alaskans to lose access to health care due to paperwork hurdles. Sullivan, for his part, reasons that the bill does not directly cut Medicaid reimbursement rates for Alaska. He also points to a rural health fund that could direct hundreds of millions of dollars toward the state in the coming five years.

Sullivan has focused his efforts to explain the budget reconciliation bill on touting its benefits to Alaska resource development, investments in the Coast Guard and tax cuts. Numerous analyses find that the tax cuts will disproportionately benefit wealthier Americans. Coyne said they deliver "tax relief for hard-working families and small businesses."

Crowell, on Wednesday, had a well-practiced response to Sullivan's message.

"We're watching Republican members of Congress now traveling the country trying to spin the lies, trying to spin the Big Beautiful Bill as something that is on the side of people," said Crowell. "We're going to continue to organize and double down to make sure that every one of our community members knows who betrayed us."

Her words were met with a chant from a man in the audience: "Throw Dan Sullivan out!"

"Throw him out! Throw him out!" the call echoed.

"This is what accountability looks like, ladies and gentlemen," Crowell said.

No serious challengers have entered the race against Sullivan as of August, but his fate in the 2026 election could depend on how effective he and his GOP colleagues are in portraying the budget reconciliation bill as a triumph.

Crowell's rallying cry was followed Wednesday by testimony delivered by Sarah Krug, an Anchorage resident who relies on Medicaid to care for her child who has cerebral palsy, and Abram Goodstein, an Anchorage rabbi whose children are enrolled in Denali KidCare, the Medicaid program for Alaska children. Both said they were worried that the budget reconciliation bill would weaken the public assistance on which they rely.

"When people argue against Medicaid funding, they fail to see the human cost. Cuts to Medicaid mean that families like mine will be forced to go bankrupt for trying to provide care," said Krug. "Thousands will simply fall through the cracks, left without the care that they need to survive."

Both Sullivan and Begich have largely sidestepped any public debate about the projected cuts to Medicaid spending across the country. Begich, whose August calendar has included a visit to the Red Dog Mine north of Kotzebue and acting as Alaska tour guide for a group of Congress members on the House Natural Resources Committee, has focused his attention on the benefits that may come from the oil and gas lease sales mandated by the bill.

When asked during a press conference whether he has taken the time to explain the budget reconciliation bill to its detractors, Begich contended that he has, in fact, held town halls.

"Some of these town halls are specific to specific groups. So we'll be focusing on veterans, on natural resources and other issues, and we'll continue to talk about this message of just how good the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is for the people of Alaska," he said.

"I was actually out at the fair while I was back here in state, just taking questions from folks, constructive criticism, praise," said Begich, adding that he welcomed both.

While Sullivan and Begich have described the bill as indisputably good for Alaska, Murkowski has acknowledged that the projected cuts to Medicaid and food assistance spending dictated by the bill could be harmful. She has said she was compelled to support the bill in order to influence its contents in the state's favor.

"The benefits of the reconciliation bill include tax relief averaging thousands of dollars for the typical Alaskan, new resource development opportunities, and infrastructure investment across our state," Joe Plesha, a spokesperson for Murkowski, said on Friday. "The Senator and her team have highlighted those benefits at events throughout August, while also meeting with leaders in the healthcare space, state legislators, and (Department of Health) officials to coordinate on next steps as the measure is implemented."

Plesha said Murkowski "secured a number of additional priorities" for Alaska in the bill, and her office is "working to ensure the state understands and benefits from them."

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