Senate Women’s Delegation Heads to Arctic to Reassure Allies
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of eight female U.S. senators departed Friday for a diplomatic tour of Arctic nations, aiming to reassure allies at a time when the Trump administration has taken an increasingly unilateral approach to foreign policy in the region. The delegation — composed entirely of women, from the senators to their staff and military liaison officers — will visit Canada, Greenland, Svalbard, and Iceland over the coming days.
According to The Associated Press, the trip is led by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The delegation is split evenly between the parties, with Republicans Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS), Katie Britt (AL), and Cynthia Lummis (WY) joining Democrats Maggie Hassan (NH), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), and Catherine Cortez Masto (NV).
Context: Rising Tensions in the Arctic
The mission comes just days after the Pentagon announced it would pause U.S. participation in the Permanent Joint Board on Defence (PJBD) with Canada — a defense cooperation framework dating back to World War II. Undersecretary of Defense Elbridge Colby accused Canada of failing “to make credible progress on its defense commitments,” a move that has further strained the U.S.-Canada relationship amid Trump’s tariff threats and repeated taunts about making Canada the “51st state.”
Murkowski and Shaheen have been at the forefront of congressional efforts to counter Trump’s Arctic policies. In January, they published an op-ed calling on Congress to rein in the president on NATO and Greenland matters. Murkowski previously traveled to Nuuk, Greenland, in February alongside Sens. Angus King, Gary Peters, and Maggie Hassan, where she told Greenlandic officials that Trump’s threats to acquire the territory “hurt my heart,” as reported by KTUU/WebCenter Fairbanks.
Purpose of the Delegation
Sen. Shaheen told the AP that the delegation aims to “reassure our allies that we recognize and appreciate the importance of our allies and partners in the Arctic as in so many other areas.” She added that the group expects to discuss “what more we can do as members of Congress to support those relationships.”
The itinerary includes visits to Arctic and sub-Arctic regions in Canada, Greenland (an autonomous territory of Denmark), Svalbard — a Norwegian archipelago that is one of the northernmost inhabited areas on Earth — and Iceland. The senators will witness the unique challenges of military operations in extreme cold, visit Indigenous communities, and observe how climate change is reshaping the region.
“I want them to experience, first of all, the awesomeness of the Arctic,” Murkowski said. She added that she hopes the senators come away from the trip “excited and intrigued and hopefully inspired.”
Strategic Importance of the Arctic
The Arctic region has grown increasingly strategic as climate change thins sea ice, potentially opening new shipping lanes and access to mineral resources. NATO has recently fostered cooperation in the High North through joint military exercises, especially as China and Russia increase their activities there. The region also hosts undersea cable projects of significant strategic value.
Murkowski emphasized the importance of understanding life in remote Arctic communities, noting that the group would see how military sites require specialized infrastructure — such as airplane hangars — because equipment cannot be left outside overnight in the extreme cold.
Women in Diplomacy
The all-female composition of the delegation carries symbolic weight. Shaheen noted that research suggests when women are at the negotiating table, agreements “have a much better chance of lasting for a longer period of time.” Iceland, one of the destinations, has a parliamentary body comprised of roughly 46% women, one of the highest rates of female political representation globally.
Congressional Pushback and Forward Look
Shaheen and Murkowski are among lawmakers pushing to include language in this year’s defense legislation that would prevent the Trump administration from withdrawing military commitments to NATO allies. They have also pushed for legislation to prevent the U.S. from attacking any fellow NATO member.
“I also want to know if there are policy directives that we should be thinking about,” Shaheen said. “And it will be great to have a strong bipartisan group there to discuss what we might want to do when we get back.”
The delegation’s findings could shape the upcoming defense authorization bill and ongoing debates over NATO funding. As Congress and the executive branch diverge on the direction of U.S. foreign policy, this all-women mission represents a visible demonstration that the legislative branch remains committed to Arctic partnerships and alliance relationships — even when the White House takes a different approach.