LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Rochester, Rochester Hills) and Haley Stevens (D-Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills) have only been in office a month, but they're already showing their more seasoned colleagues what leadership looks like. The two were among 30 Democrats who sent Speaker Nancy Pelosi a letter on Wednesday, January 23, during the government shutdown, suggesting she guarantee President Donald Trump a vote on his border wall funding request if he opened the government. The letter was not an indication of Trump support, but a good faith effort towards opening the government for workers. Slotkin was subsequently one of four freshman lawmakers to lead a group of 20 other lawmakers in introducing the Shutdown to End All Shutdowns (SEAS) Act, to protect federal employees from being used as pawns in future negotiations by transferring the financial hardship of shutdowns to the executive branch and Congress. Both Slotkin and Stevens are part of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of 101 members considered centrist Democrats. Slotkin is part of the infrastructure task force; Stevens, the co-chair of the future of work task force.