By Gabriella Borter
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin, a swing state moderate with extensive national security experience, will give her party’s rebuttal to President Donald Trump’s address next week to Congress, her party’s congressional leaders said on Thursday.
Slotkin, a 48-year-old former Central Intelligence Agency analyst, has a history of winning difficult elections. She unseated a Republican to win election to the House of Representatives in 2018 during Trump’s first term in office and won election to the Senate in Michigan in November even as Trump carried the state.
Democrats have been scrambling to position themselves after losing the White House and control of the Senate in November, which has allowed Trump’s Republicans to move aggressively this year to overhaul government.
Slotkin’s rebuttal will offer Democrats a chance to lay out their opposition to Trump’s agenda, following his 9 p.m. ET Tuesday (0200 GMT Wednesday) speech to a joint session of Congress.
Slotkin won her Senate seat with a campaign message of lowering costs for American families – a theme the Democratic Party establishment has since regretted more of its candidates did not embrace in 2024.
“She will offer a bold vision of hope, unity, and a brighter future for everyone, not just the wealthy few at the top,” the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer said in a statement announcing the choice. “Elissa Slotkin will lay out the fight to tackle the deep challenges we face today, chart a path forward, and shape the future of our nation.”
(Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Editing by Scott Malone)
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