U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) held a livestreamed town hall on Thursday, March 13, 2025. Screenshot
U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) plans to vote against advancing a stopgap spending bill that must be signed into law before Saturday to avoid a partial government shutdown.
Slotkin said during a virtual town hall Thursday evening that she would vote against the Republican spending plan because of cuts to infrastructure projects, Veterans Affairs services and programs aimed at protecting the Great Lakes.
The junior senator’s plan to vote against the bill marks a break from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who said Thursday that he would vote to advance the short-term budget.
Slotkin said that she would also not vote for the plan unless given assurances that President Donald Trump would spend the funds as appropriated by Congress, citing concerns that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, would try to redirect or withhold funds.
“I’m a former federal government employee. I don’t like shutdowns. But I think that we need to have an honest, bipartisan conversation,” Slotkin said. “Adults can get in the room and negotiate on these things so that we have some assurances that the money we put out in our bill is going to be spent accordingly.”
Slotkin said it is “potentially a nail biter” whether Republicans will be able to gain enough support from Democrats to hit the 60-vote threshold needed to advance the bill.
She said her office has received more than 20,000 calls, letters and emails about DOGE’s federal government reforms.
The first-term senator said she agrees with the mission of cutting wasteful spending, but argued that the way DOGE has gone about it has been reckless, pointing to cuts targeting new employees that ended up also cutting long-term employees who had recently been promoted into new supervisor positions.
“I worked at the CIA. I know there’s fat on the bone. If you would have given me the task of cutting it, I can tell you exactly where I’d start,” Slotkin said. “But I do think there’s a responsible way and a reckless way, and a way that doesn’t have to harm our state and harm our security.”
She said the cuts could affect the upkeep of trails and other parks in Michigan, as well as the ability to predict natural disasters or other weather events.
Slotkin also took aim at the uncertainty caused by Trump’s introduction of and delays on implementing tariffs.
“You can’t do that forever,” Slotkin said. “You can’t threaten and then not do it, and threaten and not do it, and it continue to work.”
She said that while tariffs are a tool worth having, countries like Canada should not be treated the same as countries like China – and that if Trump did go through with implementing the tariffs on Canada, the Senate could counteract it with legislation.
Should the tariffs go into effect, Slotkin said home prices could increase by up to $20,000 while car prices could increase by as much as $12,000.
Slotkin, who earlier this month delivered the Democratic response to Trump’s first Joint Address since retaking office, faced several questions during the town hall about whether Democrats were doing enough to push back on Trump.
She said the Democratic strategy is focused on legislation, litigation and communication.
While Slotkin acknowledged that some Democrats may have wanted her to be a hardline vote against all of Trump’s cabinet appointees, she said she felt it was important to have a relationship with the department heads so that she can advocate for her constituents.
“I’m getting the calls from so many Michiganders who need help and who want me to call these people and get something moving for them, so I made the decision, just as someone who’s very practical, that I can’t just be an activist, that I have to be able to get things done,” Slotkin said.
Slotkin said she and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.) received a tip last week that a federal government office in Michigan was set to cut up to 1,000 employees, but after the senators called the agency head, who they had voted for, and implored them to reconsider, the cuts were seemingly averted.
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