The Alaska Senate unanimously adopted a resolution Friday calling on President Donald Trump to reverse his order changing the name of North America’s tallest peak. The Senate joined the House in approving the resolution.
Trump had issued an executive order during his first day in office changing the name of the 20,310-foot mountain from Denali to Mount McKinley.
The mountain had been formally been named after William McKinley, the 25th president of the United States, for decades, until former President Barack Obama changed the name to Denali — the mountain’s longstanding Koyukon-Athabaskan name.
Trump’s order last month quickly drew attention from Alaskans, many of whom said they would continue calling the mountain by its Alaska Native name, regardless of Trump’s order.
McKinley, who was from Ohio, never visited Alaska. Lawmakers first approved a resolution calling on the federal government to change the name of the mountain to Denali in 1975. The name wasn’t formally changed until 2015.
The resolution approved by the Senate on Friday calls on Alaska’s congressional delegation to lobby the president to reverse his executive order.
Alaska’s two Republican U.S. senators, Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, have already said they plan to take up the issue. U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III has said he plans to focus on other topics.
All 19 present Senate members voted Friday in favor of the resolution’s passage. One member, Sen. Donny Olson of Golovin, was absent. The resolution had already passed the House last month in a 31-8 vote, with eight Trump-aligned Republicans voting against it.
Sen. Mike Shower, a Wasilla Republican who leads the Republican minority caucus in the Senate, said he supported the resolution.
“It’s what the people of Alaska want,” said Shower.
“The message back to those in D.C. that seem to be looking to change certain things: that’s fine, but let’s pick something that would be a reasonable thing, that would not upset the people of Alaska,” Shower added.
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Publish date : 2025-02-06 11:00:00
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