U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to the Anchorage Chamber…

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, speaks to the Alaska Chamber during a roundtable discussion about the Affordable Care Act on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017, at the Petroleum Club Anchorage. Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan met with state business leaders in Anchorage on Wednesday to discuss the embattled Affordable Care Act, as protesters rallied outside with calls to keep the health care law intact.

GOP Senate pair rule out voting for DeVos, putting nomination in jeopardy

Donald Trump’s nomination of school choice advocate Betsy DeVos as education secretary appeared in jeopardy Wednesday with two Republican senators saying they will vote against her. Amid fierce criticism from Democrats and teachers unions, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska announced their opposition to DeVos due to her lack of experience in the nation’s public schools.

Republicans step up push for Arctic drilling in wildlife refuge

Buoyed by Donald Trump’s election, Republicans are pushing to allow oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, an area in northern Alaska that’s been a political battleground for drillers and conservationists for decades. This month, two Alaska Republicans introduced legislation to allow development of as many as 2,000 acres in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Obama Said to Use 1953 Law to Restrict Offshore Oil Drilling

President Barack Obama is preparing to block the sale of new offshore drilling rights in most of the U.S. Arctic and parts of the Atlantic, a move that could indefinitely restrict oil production there, according to people familiar with the decision. Obama will invoke a provision in a 1953 law that gives him wide latitude to withdraw U.S. waters from future oil and gas leasing, said the people who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.