Senate confirms Westercamp to trade court; both Alaska senators vote yes

Both of Alaska's senators voted Tuesday to confirm Kara Marie Westercamp to a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of International Trade — the court where tariffs get challenged, and one that reaches Alaska harder than most states.

Alaska ships roughly 70 percent of its seafood harvest to world markets, and China is the biggest buyer. That exposes the industry twice: tariffs hit Alaska fish headed into China, and hit again when fish sent there for processing returns to American shelves. The last round of trade fights cost Alaska's seafood industry hundreds of millions of dollars in a single year, and the state's 2026 seafood report expects tariffs with China and Europe to keep weighing on whitefish markets.

Westercamp arrives at that court from inside the administration whose trade policy it reviews. She is a lawyer in the White House Counsel's office, and it was her role in President Trump's trade agenda that drew the sharpest objection — the Alliance for Justice warned that her "substantial personal involvement" raises questions about her impartiality. Democrats also questioned her trial experience and her social media history. Republicans defended her record. The vote was 50-48.

Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan have both spent years pushing back on tariffs that hurt Alaska fishermen.