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Elissa Slotkin

Elissa Slotkin

  • Michigan
  • Democratic
Career

U.S. Senate, 2025-present
U.S. House of Representatives, 2019-present

Education

B.A., Cornell University
M.A., Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

Details

Born: Jul 10, 1976

U.S. Representative U.S. Senator

Biography

Elissa Slotkin assumed office as Michigan's senator on January 3, 2025. From 2019-2025, she served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing the 8th District through 2023 and the 7th District. Slotkin is the former acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs under the Obama Administration. 

Slotkin was born on July 10, 1976, in New York City, and grew up in Michigan. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University in 1998 and a Master of Arts from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs in 2003. Between her undergraduate and graduate degrees, Slotkin spent several years working for non-profit organizations. 

After graduate school, she was recruited to join the Central Intelligence Agency as a Middle East analyst, serving three tours in Iraq over a span of five years. Those tours led to various defense and intelligence roles at the White House, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the State Department. She worked for President Bush as a member of his national security staff and was asked to stay on when President Obama took office. She then served in series of leadership roles at the Defense Department, and until January 2017, oversaw policy at the Pentagon on Russia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa as acting assistant secretary of defense. 

For information on Slotkin's policy subject areas, committee appointments and sponsored/co-sponsored legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, please visit her profile on https://www.congress.gov.

Speeches

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