Legislators should be allowed to ask Sen. Dan Sullivan anything

It’s one of the uncomfortable questions that Sen. Dan Sullivan doesn’t want to hear again from anyone in the Alaska Legislature.

But Rep. Andrew Gray was right to ask it last year and he should do so again, despite Sullivan’s desire to avoid questions that he doesn’t like. This is in spite of a scheduling decision by the Legislature and Sullivan that will leave no room for more than a few questions when he speaks to the Legislature Wednesday.

Gray was not rude when he asked a year ago about what Sullivan was doing to push back on Donald Trump regarding Trump getting cozy with Putin, while insulting Canada as the 51st state.

“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 spoke for six minutes in response to Gray, though he never answered the question. Here is Gray’s full question.

Sullivan might have kept going for a week, but Senate President Gary Stevens interrupted Sullivan after 900 words with a “Thank you senator” to allow another question. Here is Sullivan’s 900-word response to Gray.

Gray’s question is more timely this year than last. He should be allowed to ask about what Sullivan is doing to push back on Trump.

But I doubt that Gray will be allowed to ask the question.

There will not be any questions that make Sullivan uncomfortable.

I’m not buying the cover story that Sullivan would love to answer more than four questions from select legislators, but he has a flight to catch. He wants to make sure he has time to answer at least one question from each caucus, the cover story goes.

Senate President Sen. Gary Stevens and House Speaker Rep. Bryce Edgmon should allow for an open discussion and start the proceedings early, at 10 a.m. instead of 11 a.m., if Sullivan has a flight to catch.

Last year several legislators had good questions for Sullivan and he had trouble coming up with good answers.

Sullivan later told reporters in Juneau who asked why he didn’t do town hall sessions, that he didn’t mind questions, calling his appearance before the Legislature the “ultimate town hall.”

“By the way, when you want to talk about a town hall, that was the ultimate town hall. There's 60 elected officials who could ask me any question they wanted on any topic they wanted, and they represent the people,” Sullivan said last year.

Sullivan claimed a day later on a Fairbanks radio show that he didn’t mind tough questions, but he had changed his story by then about the beauty of the “ultimate town hall.”

He said he had been through more stressful environments than having elected officials “asking me questions that were clearly drafted from some far-left group.”

There was zero evidence that “some far-left group” wrote the questions asked by lawmakers. None of the questions were rude or out of place. Sullivan also claims that news organizations in Alaska are “very far left.”

House Republicans wrote a letter to Sullivan apologizing for some of the pointed questions other lawmakers had asked, such as Sen. Forrest Dunbar asking if he would support cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security, and Gray’s question about Russia and Canada.

“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 House Republicans harrumphed.

Sullivan is running for reelection. He’s not hesitant to return. He’s eager to grace the Legislature with his presence and his wisdom.

But he doesn’t want a lot of questions. He doesn’t want a repeat of the “ultimate town hall.”

Sullivan clearly wants to avoid answering any questions about the voter suppression plan from Trump, the abuses of ICE, the attack on NATO, Trump corruption and more.

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