Nick Begich the Third, who finished second in the primary election for Congress, has adopted the Sen. Dan Sullivan canard that the Biden “administration has crippled our economy by restricting resource development and has now issued 66 executive orders specifically targeting Alaska.”

This is part and parcel of the lie that there is an “unprecedented war on Alaska,” a long-running Republican fantasy. It requires no thought to recite these things from memory.

As I’ve made clear here before, 66 is an imaginary number, created by Sullivan and now mindlessly accepted as gospel by Republican politicians, who may not have looked at the list at all.

They like to repeat that number because it generates more outrage than saying 10 or 20.

There is only one executive order on the entire list and many of the 65 other alleged actions “targeting Alaska” are different stages of the same thing repeated over and over.

President Biden’s rejection of the oil leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the Ambler Road are each counted six times, while the Pebble mine and the roadless rule in the Tongass are each counted three times.

This turns four actions into 18 actions.

Sullivan claims the review of the Willow project Environmental Impact Statement and a delay in that report were two actions “targeting” Alaska, but he forgot to mention the Biden administration approval of the Willow project.

Some of the grievances are hardly worth a bureaucratic skirmish, such as expanding the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area by 4,500 acres or charging fees for campgrounds on the Dalton Highway.

There are many federal actions targeting Alaska that provide extra cash and/or services to the 49th state, but those are not on Sullivan’s selective list.

For instance, this week the acting director of the Air National Guard in Washington, D.C. granted an exception to Alaska that will preserve the jobs of 80 Alaska members of the guard.

The cuts in Alaska were to be part of a nationwide reduction in guard forces starting in October. Now there will be more money to prevent the Alaska cuts.

“I was able to secure last minute language in the FY24 Defense Appropriations bill to ensure accountability, as well as funding in the FY25 Defense Appropriations to pay for 649 additional positions for the ANG. This announcement of a permanent exemption of the Alaska Guard from the full-time leveling actions is significant for our Air Guard Members and their families, and fulfills the commitment I made to them months ago,” said Sen. Lisa Murkowski in a press release.

On August 1, Sullivan put a hold on the promotion of Maj. Gen. Duke Pirak to lieutenant general. Pirak was nominated to be the director of the Air National Guard in March. He is the acting director now.

Sullivan blocked action on Pirak’s promotion in an effort to get an Alaska exception to the nationwide cuts.

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