SLOTKIN/BIDEN/PELOSI
Oakland Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin was back in the headlines the past two months for a variety of other reasons, first in November for saying right after her re-election that she would not be voting for Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to have another term as Speaker of the House. National publications quoted her as saying she felt it was time for a change in leadership, especially since Democrats barely hung on to their majority control of the U.S. House in the 2020 balloting. Really nothing new here for Slotkin, who first raised the Pelosi issue when she ran and won this seat in the 2018 election. She was noted as “present” when the vote on Pelosi was taken two years ago. In mid-December, Slotkin made the news again, this time by challenging Biden’s announcement of his appointment of retired General Lloyd Austin as defense secretary. Slotkin objected on the grounds that the department housing the branches of the armed forces was designed to be headed by a civilian, not persons from the military, as a safeguard to keep the military under control of the citizenry.