Slotkin ‘worried’ as impeachment buzz intensifies

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) isn’t nearly as eager as some of her colleagues are to pursue impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump.

And their calls for an impeachment inquiry only intensified on Capitol Hill Tuesday as Trump’s former attorney, Don McGahn, skipped a U.S. House hearing on the Mueller report at the direction of the White House.

Several House Democrats, frustrated by the administration’s continued stonewalling of their requests, said afterward that they were no longer on the fence and are now prepared to launch an impeachment inquiry.

Those calls are now bipartisan thanks to U.S. Republican Rep. Justin Amash (R-Cascade Twp.), who enraged members of his party over the weekend by supporting impeachment.  

“It’s definitely the buzz of Michigan,” Slotkin told the Michigan Advance Tuesday in a brief interview on Capitol Hill.

The freshman lawmaker, who represents Michigan’s 8th District, said she’s also troubled by the findings of the report released by Special Counsel Robert Mueller last month.

“I think there’s no way to read the entirety of the report and not feel like this is behavior that’s unbecoming of a president,” she said.

But as the impeachment battle intensifies, she’s concerned that the House is losing focus on the policy issues that numerous polls show are far more important to voters.

“I think that we need to be judicious when it comes to an impeachment process, and I’m really worried that as we’re doing one half of our job of checks and balances on the administration, I don’t want to lose focus on the other half of our job, which is to legislate things that help people’s lives,” Slotkin said.

“And I’m kind of concerned, and I feel like it’s my job to say, ‘Of course we have to be a nation of rules and laws and so this is our responsibility to look into all of this, to request this information, to hear from Mueller.’ All of that is part of our job; it’s just one part of a job.”