CNN
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Newly elected Democratic Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan will deliver her party’s response to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday, as Democrats work to define the party’s future following tough losses last fall.
Slotkin’s remarks will be Democrats’ opening volley as the party searches for a compelling, united answer to Trump and the administration’s actions so far amid Republican control of Washington.
The speech will give a high-profile platform to Slotkin, a former CIA analyst who in November held off an experienced Republican challenger in a state that voted for Trump. Congressional Democratic leaders views her as up-and-coming in the party and believe her ability to win a Senate seat in a state Trump won is evidence of her broad appeal to voters
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called Slotkin “a rising star in our party,” telling reporters “the American people are going to love what she has to say. She’s just great on both economic and national security.”
Slotkin acknowledged to CNN last fall that the Democratic Party has struggled to communicate its message to voters. “We also got to get that message out, and we haven’t always been great at that. That’s on us,” she said.
The Michigan Democrat has said that her goal will be to “level with” the American people during her speech on Tuesday.
“The public expects leaders to level with them on what’s actually happening in our country. From our economic security to our national security, we’ve got to chart a way forward that actually improves people’s lives in the country we all love, and I’m looking forward to laying that out,” she said in a statement.
Slotkin has warned that Trump’s tariff policy could set off a trade war that would be a “gift to foreign automakers.”
Protecting the US auto industry was a central concern for voters in battleground Michigan, where Slotkin and other Democrats argued that Trump’s trade policies and opposition to bolstering electric vehicle production would threaten the critical American industry.
Her Tuesday night delivery comes with high-expectations and risk. GOP Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama faced a backlash after her response to then-President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address last year. Britt told a story of a sex-trafficked woman as she criticized former Biden’s immigration policies, but later acknowledged that the incident did not occur during Biden’s presidency.
At 48 years old, Slotkin is the youngest Democratic woman elected to the Senate, but she has entered less as a disruptor and more as a potential swing vote on key issues like immigration. In one of her first votes as a senator, she joined Republicans to pass the Laken Riley Act, a GOP-led bill to require detention of undocumented migrants charged with certain crimes.
Her November win kept a crucial Senate seat in Democratic hands in Michigan, where President Donald Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris by more than 80,000 votes. Slotkin, who had previously won competitive House races to hold onto a Lansing-area seat, defeated former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers to win her Senate seat in November by a slim margin of about 19,000 votes.
Slotkin campaigned on key Democratic issues, like abortion access and gun control, while also making an effort to reach out to Republican voters.
“You will always have an open door in my office. You will always have a place at the table, because I want to hear from you,” Slotkin said in a direct appeal to conservatives during one of her debates against Rogers.
Slotkin asked voters throughout her campaign to “join us on team normal,” casting herself as a commonsense problem solver focused on the concerns of a broad coalition of voters.
Before serving in the House for six years, Slotkin worked as a CIA analyst and in national security roles under former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
As a graduate student in New York City at the time of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Slotkin said that fateful day changed the trajectory of her career and led her to a life of public service.
“I did not go into graduate school thinking I would choose national service as a career,” she had told CNN, reflecting on what was her second day at Columbia. “By the end of that day, I knew national service was what I was going to do.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
