Flanked by local and state officials, U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte) opened his district office in Lansing, Mich. on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025. | Kyle Davidson
As the winter air cast a chill across Lansing Monday morning, U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett (R-Charlotte), gathered with local and state officials to open his congressional office across the street from the state Capitol.
Flanked by Lansing Mayor Andy Schor, state Sen. Lana Theis (R-Brighton), and state Reps. Angela Witwer (D-Delta Twp.) and Jason Woolford (R-Howell), Barrett noted his new office is located at the center of Michigan’s 7th Congressional District — which includes Clinton, Ingham, Livingston and Shiawassee counties, as well as parts of Eaton, Oakland, and Genesee counties. He also expressed his excitement to partner with state lawmakers from the region.
“This district includes multiple counties and stretches across multiple state legislative jurisdictions, and I know from my time serving in the state Legislature that oftentimes constituents have issues that cross over between state and federal jurisdictions. So we’re excited and open to be working and partnering with our state lawmaker delegation as well, as we look to really represent constituents and their issues here,” Barrett said.
Barrett served two terms in the Michigan House of Representatives beginning in 2015, before he was elected to the Michigan State Senate in 2017. He served as a senator through the end of 2022, opting against seeking reelection to challenge U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly), who represented the 7th District at the time. While Barrett’s first effort to take the district in 2022 was unsuccessful, he triumphed over his previous colleague, former state Sen. Curtis Hertel (D-East Lansing), in 2024.
Hertel is now running to chair the Michigan Democratic Party.
While addressing reporters, Schor, a Democrat and former House member, emphasized that party does not matter when working to get things done for residents.
“We work very closely with our members of Congress, we know that they are there in D.C., fighting for Lansing residents in addition to the rest of the district,” Schor said after noting his previous efforts working with Slotkin and her predecessor, former U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop (R-Rochester).
“The fact that Congressman Barrett reached out to me that we were able to sit down and chat, talk about his priorities and mine, talk about the things that are important for our city and our region. Regardless of whether you’re in Lansing or Livingston or Oakland or Eaton, Clinton, Ingham, it’s important for all of us,” Schor said.
Barrett was sworn in alongside his fellow Congressional newcomers on Jan. 3 and will work out of one of the offices used by his great-grandfather, the late U.S. Rep. Louis Rabaut, who served as a Democrat from Detroit from 1935 to 1961, save for two years between 1947 and 1949.
Since taking office, Barrett says he’s been working to familiarize himself with the D.C. geography alongside attending organizing meetings for the committees he will be serving on.
“I’m proud to serve on the [House] Veteran Affairs Committee. I’m going to be the subcommittee chairman of the Subcommittee on Technology and Modernization, which will be really important, veteran issues, of course, being very important to me,” said Barrett, an Iraq war veteran who served in in the military for 22 years, retiring from the Michigan Army National Guard in 2022.
“I’m also going to be serving on the [House] Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which is a great opportunity, because I was the chairman of that here in the state Senate for four years, and I know infrastructure needs are going to be very critical here in Michigan, across the country. We’ve got a lot of issues with infrastructure to deal with, so I’m thankful to be on that committee as well,” Barrett said.
According to a report from Politico, U.S. House Republicans have already begun eyeing cuts to Medicaid, changes to Medicare, reductions for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, a “reimagining” of the Affordable Care Act and an end to several of President Joe Biden’s climate policies.
When asked if he would support these cuts, Barrett said he hadn’t seen the proposals, and that his focus had been on the Laken Riley Act, border security and “condemning some of the overreach of the International Criminal Court.”
Last week, members of the U.S. House passed its version of the Laken Riley Act with bipartisan support, laying the groundwork to expand mandatory detention requirements for immigrants charged with petty crimes — including some individuals with legal status. The Bill is named after a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student, who was murdered by Jose Antonio Ibarra, a 26-year-old migrant from Venezuela who U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement allege entered the country illegally in 2022. The Senate advanced its own version of the bill on Thursday, with members voting 84-9 to allow the policy to proceed to debate and a final vote.
The House also approved sanctions against the International Criminal Court Thursday for issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his minister of defense Yoav Gallant over Israel’s war on Gaza.
The Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act imposes sanctions on any foreign individual or entity which assists the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting U.S. citizens or citizens of an allied nation — such as Israel — who are not members of the ICC.
When asked about his other priorities in office, Barrett said they remained centered on the issues he discusses on the campaign trail, including addressing border security, relieving cost-of-living concerns for families in Michigan and across the U.S. and putting foreign adversaries in check.
“We’ve had this creeping escalation of war abroad that makes Americans less safe, less secure. Those are all challenges that we have to address as members of Congress. And that’s a challenge and, you know, something that I’m looking forward to really working hard on,” Barrett said.
Republicans hold majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate, setting the stage for President-elect Donald Trump to move ahead on changes to immigration, energy and tax policy. However, House Republicans hold a slim four-seat majority, with former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) resigning. That majority is expected to slim down even further until special elections are held, with Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) set to join the Trump administration, leaving Republicans with 217 members to Democrats’ 215.
While the nation is facing a number of issues, that also creates opportunities to remedy these issues, Barrett said.
“It’s going to take coordination. It’s going to take work [from] the House, the Senate and the incoming administration. It’s also going to be bipartisan work with Republicans and Democrats, because a lot of the problems we’re facing, you know, don’t just affect Republicans or Democrats. They affect all Americans, and those are things that we have to work together on,” Barrett said.
Looking forward, Barrett said he sees veteran issues and transportation policy as areas where he could work alongside his Democratic and Republican colleagues.
As a freshman member of Congress, Barrett acknowledged he will not often have the most senior voice in a room, presenting opportunities to listen and learn from those who began serving before him. However, he noted he was also elected to serve as the voice of his district.
“I am there to learn from the other members, but I’m also there to assert the voice of my district. And that’s a balance that you have to have to, you know, know when to lead, know when to follow and those are things that come with a little bit of experience,” Barrett said.
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