U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) answers questions at a March 19, 2025 roundtable centered on impending federal cuts to key social safety net programs. | Kyle Davidson
Gathering alongside community members, government employees and public service workers at the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) and U.S. Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-Bay City) sounded the alarm about Republican’s efforts to carve trillions out of the federal budget, while outlining how residents can fight back against these cuts.
With President Donald Trump tasking billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, with cutting federal spending, Trump is seeking to free up $6 trillion for three things, Slotkin said: to increase security at the southern border, increase national security and prolong his 2017 tax cuts to the tune of $4 trillion.
“All of those programs you’ve heard about, that are being cut, all the personnel that are being fired on a Friday and hired back on a Monday…That is all an attempt to create a pot of $6 trillion,” Slotkin said, noting her brother had been fired and subsequently rehired yesterday for a job with the U.S. Department of Transportation.
As the President prepares to reconcile his budget cuts with Republicans, Slotkin warned there is no way for the math to work on these proposals without significant cuts to Medicaid, which provides health insurance and resources to low income individuals and families.
“There are 10 million people in the state of Michigan, 2.6 million are on Medicaid for their principal insurance. That includes 280,000 children right in our communities that are on Medicaid as their health insurance. But Medicaid pays for a lot of other things that we don’t see. 63% of our nursing homes, including every nursing home that you can think of in this area, are dependent on Medicaid funding. One out of every six seniors in Michigan is fully paid for in a nursing home by Medicaid,” Slotkin said
She further noted that Medicaid is key in keeping hospitals afloat financially, particularly rural hospitals.
Slotkin also raised concerns about Medicare Part D coverage, which helps seniors pay for medication including a list of drugs whose prices were capped through the Inflation Reduction Act.
She further emphasized the impact massive cuts to Medicaid would have on mental health within the state, noting that Michigan is already facing a crisis with mental health.
“We do not have the coverage we need for the mental health issues we already have. You can imagine how much of mental health is paid for by Medicaid, right? We need to just be clear-eyed and communicate, not just as about health care, but what it means in our community if we’re not meeting those needs,” Slotkin said.
While discussing the impacts federal cuts would have on Social Security, McDonald Rivet recounted a story of a Saginaw woman who had called into a tele-town hall, noting that she was on Social Security, that she was disabled and had difficulty getting around, and that she didn’t know how to use a computer, creating concerns amid the U.S. Social Security Administration’s plan to end phone services following instructions from DOGE.
Social Security is the largest single item in the federal budget McDonald Rivet said, accounting for about 20% of its funds. When looking at ways to cut $6 trillion from the budget, ignoring that 20% is next to impossible, she added.
Alongside being one of the nation’s most popular and successful safety nets, Social Security is also one of the nation’s most efficient programs with administrative costs of less than .4% in 2024, McDonald Rivet said.
Despite this, Trump and Musk are taking action to cut staff and close social security offices, including its office in downtown Saginaw, said McDonald Rivet.
“This office provides vital services to some of our vulnerable seniors. So I sent a letter last week demanding that they provide more information and asking that they not close this Social Security office and others who serve our seniors,” McDonald Rivet said, noting that the Saginaw office had been ranked in the top 20 in the nation for customer satisfaction.
During the panel discussion, McDonald Rivet, a former state senator, also noted that federal funds make up a substantial portion of the state’s budget, later stressing to reporters that the state would not be able to backfill this funding, nor provide temporary relief to programs whose funding had been cut.
While presenting Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2026, Budget Director Jen Flood told members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees that 42% of Whitmer’s proposed budget stems from federal funds.
“The reality is most of these programs [are] for, you know, our kids, for our seniors, for our veterans. These are programs that are already bulging at the seams and unable to meet the capacity,” McDonald Rivet said.
“There are services that we should be doubling down on, not retracting. So if there’s an expectation that there is money at the local or state level that can backfill these hundreds of millions into the billions of dollars, that is a fantasy, that money is not there,” McDonald Rivet said.
In staring down these potential cuts, Slotkin called on the healthcare workers, community organization leads and citizens in attendance to keep an open line of communications with their elected leaders, and not just those who are easy to get an appointment with.
“You’ve got to go to everyone up and down their chain, Democrat and Republican. And I would include local electeds. And I say that because you can imagine that if our local hospitals are cut, if Medicaid is cut, then everyone’s going to go to the state of Michigan and say, ‘Hey, you got to help us. You got to make up the difference. You got to help us here.’ And the state of Michigan can’t take all of those requests. There’s just no way,” she said.
Slotkin also called on individuals to convene and make their voices heard as a group, and to work to generate press emphasizing the impacts federal cuts will have on their communities.
McDonald Rivet later noted that her website had a portal where her constituents could submit information about how they’d been impacted by the Trump administration’s actions. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has also been very active in filing suits for those damaged by actions at the federal level, she noted, pointing to Nessel’s office as another point of contact.
Unlike herself and McDonald Rivet, Nessel has legal standing to pursue cases against entities like DOGE, Slotkin said, noting that Nessel’s office needs statements of harm from Michiganders in order to do so.
Slotkin further urged those calling their representatives to “follow the doctrine of no surprises.”
“Give them no room to say, ‘Well, I just didn’t know what it would do to my community. I had no idea that cuts to Medicaid would impact my life here.’ Give them no excuse,” Slotkin said.
If they won’t take a meeting, email them and put something in the local paper, she said.
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