Sen. Elissa Slotkin ’98 (D-M.I.) highlighted issues in the economy, government efficiency, immigration and foreign policy in a rebuttal speech to President Donald Trump’s Congressional address on Tuesday night.
Slotkin, the junior senator from Michigan, previously served Michigan’s 7th District for three terms in the House of Representatives. Slotkin is the first Cornellian to be elected to the Senate since former Sen. Mark Kirk ’81 (R-I.L.) lost his re-election bid in 2016. She is the fifth Cornell graduate to ever serve in the U.S. Senate.
Speaking live from Wyandotte, Michigan, Slotkin emphasized Democrats’ discontent with Trump’s second-term policies in the Democratic rebuttal to Trump’s joint congressional address.
Trump’s first address — the longest in modern history — covered immigrants and crime, trade and tariffs and his return to the White House after defeating Kamala Harris in the presidential election.
Many attending members of the Democratic Women’s Caucuswore pink, signaling a “protest of Trump’s policies which are negatively impacting women and families” according to Caucus Chair Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) in an interview with TIME Magazine.
Among them, wearing a bright pink dress, Rep. Melanie Stansbury MS ’07 (D-N.M.) garnered national attention for holding a sign that read, “This is not normal,” which was grabbed from her by Rep. Lance Gooden (R-T.X.).
Stansbury, who attended the University and the Cornell in Washington program, earned a master’s degree in community and regional sociology before entering a career in public service.
Stansbury has served New Mexico’s 1st District since 2021 and defended her act of civil disobedience amid criticism and public disapproval from Republicans, including Gooden.
“We’ve never seen a constitutional takeover like this president is trying to do right now, and we’re not going to normalize it and treat it like business as usual,” Stansbury said, emphasizing the need to protest “illegal abuses of power.”
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) announced that Slotkin would deliver the rebuttal speech following Trump’s address.
Schumer described Slotkin as “nothing short of a rising star in our party” amid her selection.
In the November 2024 election, Slotkin defeated former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-M.I) in the race to fill former Sen. Debbie Stabenow’s (D-M.I.) seat, despite Trump winning the battleground state with a 1.4-point lead over Harris.
Despite Slotkin’s relatively recent entrance into public office in 2018, Democrats have highlighted her significance to the party as a moderate figure capable of resonating with conservatives on economic and national security issues.
In her 10-minute speech, Slotkin discussed economic issues, focusing specifically on the increasing price of groceries and prescriptions, tariffs on Mexico and Canada, possible cuts to retirement programs including Social Security and Medicare and the increasing national debt.
A.D. White Professor-at-Large Theda Skocpol, a Wyandotte, Michigan native who specializes in comparative American politics, considered Slotkin’s economic focus effective for Democrats.
“Hitting themes like Social Security and health care that middle of the road Americans care about made sense,” Skocpol wrote in an email to The Sun.
Slotkin also criticized Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency — headed by Elon Musk — on its recent mass accidental firing of government employees.
“The mindless firing of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep our planes from crashing and conduct the research that finds the cure for cancer — only to rehire them two days later? No CEO in America could do that without being summarily fired,” Slotkin said.
Skocpol also praised Slotkin’s “common sense tone” in discussing economic and other issues.
“[Democrats] need to point out the most unpopular and weird things Trump and Musk are saying and doing, not do a lot of yelling or try to denounce everything at once,” Skocpol wrote.
On border policy, Slotkin emphasized her background in national security while criticizing the Trump administration for taking irresponsible action in its mass deportations.
Slotkin formerly served as a CIA Middle East analyst, completing three tours in Iraq before holding several defense and intelligence positions in the Bush and Obama White House and in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
“Securing the border without actually fixing our broken immigration system is dealing with the symptom and not the disease,” Slotkin said. “America is a nation of immigrants. We need a functional system — keyed to the needs of our economy — that allows vetted people to come and work here legally.”
Slotkin also criticized Trump on his recent outburst during his meeting last week with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying that Trump’s relationship with Putin shows a dependency that suggests that “in his heart, [Trump] doesn’t believe we are an exceptional nation.”
Amid widespread partisan polarization, Slotkin emphasized uniting the Democratic platform through a common goal to preserve democracy, saying, “Our democracy, no matter how messy, is unparalleled and worth fighting for.”
She stressed that Americans must continue to pay attention, hold elected officials accountable and organize around political issues in their communities.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve experienced significant and tumultuous change as a country,” Slotkin said. “I’m a student of history, and we’ve gone through periods of political instability before. And ultimately, we’ve chosen to keep changing this country for the better.”
