Slotkin blasts Trump’s plan to strip Americans of their healthcare at packed town hall in Lansing

US Sen. Elissa Slotkin and Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet are warning about a Republican-backed budget that would gut Medicaid, raise health care costs, and strip coverage from thousands of Michiganders.

LANSING—Hundreds of Michiganders packed into the gym at Everett High School on Friday evening to hear from their elected representatives and help send a message to Republican lawmakers in Washington: Stop cutting health care so billionaires can get a tax break.

With US Sen. Elissa Slotkin and US Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet leading the discussion, the town hall in Lansing served as a pointed rebuke of House Republicans—particularly first-term US Rep. Tom Barrett—who recently voted to support a sweeping federal budget that slashes Medicaid and food assistance while doling out new tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

“This bill means that everyone in this room and everyone watching is either at risk of losing their health care or paying more for their health care. Period,” Slotkin told the crowd. “[Trump] is trying to do a thousand cuts in his second term, and he needs to pay for that.”

What’s in Republicans’ Budget Bill?

Slotkin, a former CIA analyst and Pentagon official, didn’t mince words in her breakdown of what Republicans’ budget bill actually does—and the people it’s designed to benefit.

“The  theory of the case for this bill is to cut a bunch of programs that we all care about, particularly healthcare, to pay for permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest tax brackets,” she said. “That is not a political statement. That is literally the theory of the case. You can’t give those big tax breaks to people who make $4 million and above if you’re not cutting something big.”

The budget plan—dubbed the “big, beautiful bill” by Trump’s team—passed the US House last month by a single vote, with all seven of Michigan’s Republican representatives voting in favor. 

It would impose new work requirements and administrative hurdles for Medicaid and federal food assistance programs, which ultimately threatens to strip health care coverage from up to 750,000 Michiganders, as well as deliver billions in tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans.

The bill’s cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—which nearly 1.5 million Michiganders, including more than half a million kids, rely on to avoid going hungry—could also prove devastating for Michigan. More than 270,000 Michiganders could lose their SNAP benefits, according to an estimate from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

The legislation would also force states to share some of the cost for SNAP, which could cost Michigan nearly $900 million per year, according to the Michigan State Budget Office.

The legislation also eliminates expanded subsidies under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and makes other cuts to the ACA that will cost millions of Americans their healthcare. It also rolls back clean energy incentives and includes massive spending hikes on military and immigration enforcement programs. Meanwhile, the top 0.1% of earners—those making over $4.3 million annually—would receive an average tax cut of $390,000 per year, while working-class families would see their health care costs rise by thousands, according to a congressional analysis.

In one example, Slotkin said a Lansing couple making a collective $82,000 annually who get their coverage via the ACA could see their health insurance costs spike by $13,000 next year if the bill becomes law. Meanwhile, someone making $4.3 million would receive a $390,000 tax cut—every year, indefinitely.

“Do the math,” Slotkin said. “You see who is benefiting from this bill. Don’t let them fool you.”

Republicans are Missing in Action 

Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel, who moderated the event, referred to the legislation as the “big ugly bill” and criticized US Rep. Tom Barrett—who represents the Lansing area—for voting in favor of it while refusing to meet with constituents to explain his position.

“ The least someone can do is sit down with the people and explain their votes,” Hertel told the crowded gymnasium. “Our job is to go out and fight and talk to people across the state. That’s why we’re doing town halls in every corner of the state. That’s just what the job should be.”

McDonald Rivet, who represents the neighboring 8th Congressional District, also lambasted the late-night legislative process that led to a 1,000-plus page bill being rammed through the US House of Representatives with minimal time for lawmakers to actually review what it would do.

She framed the legislation as part of a broader attack on basic rights and economic security—particularly for families, seniors, and children who depend on federal benefits. 

“Sixty percent of the jobs in Michigan pay less than $50,000 a year,” McDonald Rivet said. “People just can’t make it anymore. … Most people were not doing well before Donald Trump took office and he is tearing down and destroying the government, which is making that worse.”

She added: “Children need to have a path to success, not a legacy of debt. Our seniors have a right for a dignified, dare I say, happy retirement. Healthcare is a fundamental human right.”

A Call to Fight Back

Slotkin, who served the Lansing area in Congress for six years before being elected to the US Senate last fall, encouraged attendees not to give in to helplessness. Instead, she pointed to the last time Trump tried to gut healthcare—and how grassroots organizing efforts stopped him.

“Normal people who don’t follow everything that goes on in politics started to say to themselves, ‘Wait a minute. He’s going to take away my healthcare. No, no, no.’” Slotkin said. “That’s the model for what we’re going to do now. And it all starts with pushing back on this bill.”

Slotkin also said that Democrats in Congress can’t just play defense throughout the entirety of Trump’s second term: They need to start offering an alternative vision for the future—and fast.

“ I wrote a war plan of how to contain and defeat Trump, a 17-page PowerPoint,” she said. “It’s not about figuring out how to turn our neighbors into enemies. … It’s about facing our problems head on. The American dream, going forward, is if we face these issues and have a vision.”

Slotkin emphasized that the Republican-led plans to gut Medicaid funding laid out in Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” still need to pass in the US Senate, where Democratic lawmakers are already working to block or amend its most consequential provisions.

She added: “It’s no secret that we have clear work to do. So, stay tuned.”

READ MORE: Michigan moms, doctors beg Republicans not to gut Medicaid

Don’t miss Michigan’s biggest stories—follow The ‘Gander on X.