Last week, Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin gave a speech at a progressive think tank where she gave a stern warning about America’s shrinking middle class.

She says the middle class has been shrinking since the ’70s, making it more challenging for young Americans to become as affluent as their parents. Part of the reason for that, she says, is how much the economy has changed structurally, and the failure of government to change along with it.

“We were already taking on water as the middle class, and now we’re about to hit a Category 5 hurricane in the form of artificial intelligence,” she said. “We gotta reset on how we do the basics of government and of our lives and focus on those essential things.”

Slotkin says part of the solution is to build more housing, expand access to health care, invest more resources in small businesses and to ban donations from corporate Political Action Committees. 

Metro Producer Sam Corey spoke with the senator about her “economic war plan” to build up the middle class, and why she says Democrats should be on the offense right now. 

—WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

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Michigan U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin spent three terms in the U.S. House before running to replace outgoing Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow. She bucked the pro-GOP trend to beat Mike Rogers last November for the seat.

WDET’s Russ McNamara caught up with the junior senator at the 2025 Mackinac Policy Conference ahead of All Things Considered – Detroit on Wednesday to talk about proposed cuts to Medicaid, supporting EV manufacturing and more.

On planned cuts to Medicaid

Michigan U.S. Senator Elissa Slotkin says she is against planned cuts to Medicaid passed by House Republicans.

The legislation — part of a massive spending bill deemed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — is on its way to the Senate next week.

Slotkin says 300,000 Michiganders are at risk of losing their primary insurance if the bill passed as is, adding that work requirements are just another way to keep people off Medicaid.

“They’re making them sign up every six months so that people forget, people get busy and they lapse, and they get off of Medicaid,” she said. “For Michigan, it would have a dramatic impact.”

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration issued a report earlier this month warning of the potential impact of Medicaid cuts by the federal government.

During the 2024 campaign, now-President Donald Trump promised many times to never make cuts to Medicaid and Medicare.

On giving consumers a choice about EVs

The U.S. Senate recently voted to remove California’s ability to set EV and emission standards, thwarting the state’s goal of phasing out gas-powered vehicles by 2035.

Slotkin was the only Democrat who voted with Republicans on pushing back against California’s EV mandate, saying she believes in giving consumers a choice.

“I made a very important pledge to voters here that I don’t support a mandate,” she said. “I want to build the next generation of EVs, but I don’t want to mandate. I don’t believe in that.”

Michigan’s other U.S. Senator, Gary Peters, voted against the measure.

Slotkin says she is upset Congressional Republicans are rolling back incentives for people to purchase EVs, but that doesn’t mean we should be creating a mandate that is “above and beyond anything like consumer demand” without the infrastructure to support it.

WDET’s Jenny Sherman contributed to this report.

Use the media player above to hear the full conversation.

Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on-demand.

More stories from The Metro