Elissa Slotkin

"My issue is just oversight and making sure that I can turn back to Michiganders and say, if you are going to make the decision to invest in crypto, you are safe. You are not going to be scammed. You are not going to be defrauded out of that money. ...This administration has ...systematically dismantled independent commissions: the FTC, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the ...So now we have a new industry, crypto ...and I'm supportive of figuring out good regulation. ...Michigan is the number two online casino and sports betting state, $74 million annually. The tribes and our licensed sports prediction markets are the ones who control that. My understanding is that the CFTC regulations are clear on this issue, that sports contracts should not be allowed because they are equivalent to... gambling. ...President Trump announced that he is launching his own Truth Predict that would ...support event contracts and ...be traded."

"[M]ost Americans who voted for President Trump... did not vote for chaos. ...They didn't vote for cuts to veterans. They didn't vote for...tariffs. ...[I]n my state, it was an economic security vote. ...[H]e is gonna make you pay in every corner of your life. ...He may create a self-inflicted recession."

"I'm a national-security person, so I made a quad chart. ...I decided to work on the issues that fell into the quadrant that was both strategic and irreversible."

"In 2008, 2009, 2010, our recession was pretty close to a depression in Michigan. ...I'm not gonna stand silent while he threatens that in my state."

"[W]e need to get back to... fundamentals. The middle class is... essential... We need to grow and expand it. ...[W]e need to focus on... economic security... national security, and... democracy."

"I come from a world of war planning... of constant, prudent planning.... where you can't just play defense only. There's no such thing as winning, in any operation or in any war, by just playing defense. What we owe the country is a strategy that does more than play defense."

"There’s a lot of leaders in the Democratic Party. I liken it to a solar system. We have stars, and we have planets with their own gravitational pull, but we don’t have a sun that we all center around."

"I would push and prod for... [a] unified approach... I was going to take my best stab at it... We have lots of ideas, lots of different voices, and so in order to keep that coalition together, people have treated each other very carefully and run party offices and the party apparatus by consensus."

"Kamala Harris had a very short time to formulate her campaign. ...Donald Trump, whether you believe him or not, prioritized the talking point of cost of living and the economy. Democrats have policy plans... about good things... I still think we have good ideas. But when you prioritize everything, you actually prioritize nothing."

"In the Senate, we don’t... divide into progressive versus moderate... behind closed doors. The real debate... is: Do you believe that Trump’s second term is an existential threat to American democracy, or... like his first term, survivable if we... wait... and let his bad policies boomerang on him? ...[S]ome ...have been around and seen so many things ...in Washington that their approach... is just: wait. I do not fall in that camp. It’s not just about age. It’s approach. ...It is not like being in leadership means you’re automatically old guard and need to be booted out. But... leaders in the party are feeling upward pressure... [T]hat’s a good thing."

"If there's a threat coming from abroad or, you know, something happening, you have to call balls and strikes on that or else people can get, you know, deeply hurt."

"The smell of that - the burning buildings and that very sort of toxic chemically smell that was just hanging over New York for weeks, if not months, and it completely changed my life."

"I really believe that the existential threat to the country is not coming from abroad. It's the shrinking middle-class at home and what that does to our stability here."

"They were decent to each other. We were all on the same team, and I'm so glad that I got to be there in that moment to see that. And I'm so concerned with how far we feel from that moment."

"What gives me hope is that I go home every weekend, and the vast majority of Michiganders live in that 80% middle that don't scream on the internet, that don't, you know, want to hurt their neighbors when they happen to disagree. They just want team normal."

"It was not just the shooting. It was the fire, and the community is just trying to understand what happened. It is a testament to law enforcement."

"There's plenty of time for us to figure out what happened and what the motive was for this man, but it just - it doesn't matter at this point. These people are victims and they're survivors and this community is going to have a long road back to healing."

"I think we need to just grapple with the fact that we have people all over the country who are using violence as a way to convey how they feel, whether they're going through mental hardship or they've got an agenda, and it is just a real - just we have to grapple with it as a country."

"Acknowledging you have a problem is the first step to recovery, and then we have to understand we've clearly got mental health issues."

"Trump has laid out a whole lot of enemies that are American citizens."

"Trump is ready to bring the whole weight of the federal government against Americans he perceives as enemies. Why? Because he has one goal. Making sure that he and his ilk never have to give up power. ...I think between the strikes in the Caribbean, his efforts to identify domestic terrorists, and his deployment of force in American cities, that seems to be where we're headed."

"The Trump administration notified Congress that we... are in armed conflict with a number of cartels... "designated terrorist organizations." ...But here's what's different about the strikes and what's precedent setting. The president and secretary Hegseth are refusing to tell the American people... the names, and they won't tell us why they're being targeted."

"A few weeks ago the Senate Armed Services Committee, the committee I sit on... both sides of the aisle asked the Defense Department for the name and number of the organizations that the United States is currently at war with. They refused to provide it. We asked for a copy of the memo from the Justice Department that lays out the legal case for these strikes. They refused to provide it."

"[T]he American people deserve to know who we are at war with, especially if people are being killed in our name."

"Trump's full reorientation towards the "enemy within" ...has major implications for his use of force..."

"[T]he president quietly put out an directing the Department of Justice to create a list of "domestic terror organizations." ...[G]roups that are accused of anti-Americanism, , anti-Christianity, or hostility toward those who hold "traditional American views on family, religion or morality. ...{T]hese groups don't have to be violent to get ...on the list. The order suggested that DOJ could look at chat groups, in-person meetings, social media and even s."

"Trump plans to see how far he can stretch the law before someone tells him no, and if the administration won't publicly name s in the , you can bet that they're not going to tell you the name of this new list of domestic terror organizations. Only this time... it will be on American streets, and in American homes."

"The next logical step... target American citizens. In theory, people... would be wiretapped, their homes could be searched or they could be arrested just for disagreeing with President Trump's agenda."

"This is... fundamentally un-American and strikes at the heart of who we are as a people..."

"Trump has created at least two "s"... to go after Trumps's perceived enemies. As a CIA officer, the idea that s could be asked to target Americans turns my stomach, and it would shift us into a modern day surveillance state."

"Turning the federal government against Trump's enemies goes hand in hand with his use of force in American cities, both federal law enforcement and the military. ...[T]he administration ordered the creation of two new National Guard units, a standing quick reaction force that can deploy anywhere in the country, and... separately, National Guard units in all 50 states focused on quelling so-called civil disturbances."

"Trump has been very clear about his intent. At Quantico... he instructed his military brass to use cities as "training grounds" and many times he's floated the idea of using the Insurrection Act so that military units can raid, detain and arrest ."

"The president has... deployed ICE and other federal law enforcement to these same cities... In some cases... federal officers are playing fast and loose with their tactics, which... could lead to a deadly escalation."

"The videos out of Chicago are shocking! Federal agents pulling their weapons on highways... injuring and... killing civilians. Many are masked, not wearing uniforms and driving unmarked cars."

"For those of us who served abroad, it feels like another country. ...[W]e're about two weeks away from a bloody incident that spirals out of control, and this is just the kind of incident that Trump wants, to justify more force coming in."

"If the president is going to fundamentally redefine the use of force in America... I believe Trump is reshaping the country to hold on to power."

"Trump is following the same playbook as almost every authoritarian in history. ...Once in office, surround yourself with people loyal to you. Accumulate power and influence, and... start using it against your perceived enemies."

"There comes a time in every authoritarian playbook... a tipping point. You accumulate so much power that you realize that if you ever lose... your opponent... can use that very power against you. So you hold on to it with everything you have."

"The Caribbean strikes, the list of domestic terrorists, military and law enforcements across our American streets. He seems to be laying the groundwork to stay in power."

"There are two ways... both out of the same authoritarian playbook. ...Trump finds a pretext, invokes the Insurrection Act and tries to impose . Elections therefore could be cancelled, or if they happen, he could surround polling places with military and federal law enforcement to intimidate voters. The second option... could... swing an election. Labeling opposition groups, candidates and elected officials as terrorists or criminals and going after the infrastructure that allows for competitive elections."

"There is more than one way to destroy an election... to lose our democracy. We're in danger of that..."

"I am not an alarmist. ...April of 2020 ...the first time Trump started tweeting about election fraud ...that if he lose, it could only be because of fraud. ...January 6, 2021, as rioters attacked the capitol I barricaded myself... and looked for something I could use as a weapon. The thing I thought was unthinkable was happening."

"Trump hasn't planned for... the will of the American people. Americans have an internal barometer for things that sound and smell authoritarian. ...[I]n Michigan ...even ardent Trump supporters don't like what they're seeing ...That should give us hope."

"Congress needs to reclaim our power... over the use of force."

"To my Republican colleagues... in the spirit of John McCain we need to start pushing back where we don't agree on how force is being used."

"Leadership is about the actions you take, not the things you say behind closed doors."

"I'm introducing a bill, the No Troops in Our Streets Act that gives Congress the ability to immediately end a military deployment in American cities."

"To the military. You too have a critical role... According to law, there is such a thing as an illegal order. ...[I]n the choice between loyalty to the Constitution and loyalty to one man, there is only one right answer, and every one of you has taken that oath."

"To our s. You can... exercise your political power to call out Trump's dangerous use of our military. ...Don't ever underestimate the power of your voice in how impactful it can be when you speak up. ...DM me. We're getting the band back together."

"To our state leaders. You have a responsibility to hold the line, protect the integrity of our elections and withstand the pressure that the Trump administration is... starting to apply."