U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is walking a fine, often contradictory line as she continues to air her grievances with a GOP-backed effort to strengthen election integrity and protect women’s sports from gender-confused men.

On March 21, she spent nearly 45 minutes claiming she supports voter IDs while then raising a long litany of concerns about how it would be too costly and logistically challenging to require Alaskans to show an approved photo ID to vote in federal elections and proof of citizenship to register to vote. She also complained that states shouldn’t have to turn over voter rolls to Homeland Security to remove voters who are noncitizens.

Towards the end of her long speech, she took aim at a proposed amendment to the bill, which sought to bar transgender biological males from competing in – and undermining – women’s sports.

“I’m also not happy to see some provisions tucked into this substitute that target transgender individuals, simply because there’s apparently an opening to do so,” Murkowski stated on March 21. “I don’t know that that has anything to do with voting. These provisions add to the opposition that I have.”

Despite denouncing the transgender amendment, Murkowski ultimately went against her stated position, fell in line, and voted to add it to the larger voter ID bill.

Nevertheless, the proposed transgender amendments failed to pass the cloture vote (to end debate), with Democrats uniting in opposition. It required 60 votes under Senate filibuster rules, but only got 49 votes and was thus blocked from an up-or-down vote.

The larger SAVE Act is also still in limbo. While it passed the House earlier this month, it requires 60 votes to overcome a Senate filibuster, and Murkowski has continued to resist her fellow Republicans by joining Democrats in opposing its passage.

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