Sen. Elissa Slotkin

In this week's intel brief, we go deep on three topics: 1️⃣ An update on the war in Iran and its impact on costs at home 2️⃣ This weekend's tornadoes in southwest Michigan 3️⃣ The recent departure of Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

President Trump ran on lowering your costs. But costs are up across the board, and his top legislative priority? To make it harder for Michiganders to vote with the so-called SAVE Act. I break it down.

As families in Southwest Michigan recover from the recent storms, @SenatorSlotkin and I are pushing for answers from the National Weather Service about why there was no tornado watch alert issued before the first tornado touched down. My heart goes out to the loved ones of those who lost their lives, and I will continue working to support the communities who are rebuilding and recovering.

It’s not hard to say. It is illegal to put the military at polling places. Watch our Armed Services hearing from today on elections, deploying military to the polls and unlawful orders.

Today, I took to the Senate floor to try to pass funding for TSA. My Republican colleagues said no. They are holding all the other Homeland Security agencies hostage because of ICE. Set ICE aside while we negotiate reforms. Fund everything else today.

AI shouldn’t be used to spy on Americans. AI shouldn’t be used in deadly autonomous weapons without a human in the loop. This is just common sense.

There needs to be fundamental reform of ICE. The public is crying out for that.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., questioned Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., President Donald Trump’s new pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, about his suggestions for reforming ICE in a confirmation hearing Wednesday. Slotkin asked Mullin what he’d be “willing to do to fundamentally reform ICE.” Mullin replied that he’d like to see ICE work more with law enforcement. “I would love to see ICE become a transport more than the front line,” Mullin said in a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Trump tapped Mullin to take over the embattled agency from Kristi Noem, who was fired earlier this month after her leadership came under bipartisan scrutiny during tense congressional hearings. Mullin was elected to Congress in 2012 and has branded himself as a businessman and a Washington outsider. As Homeland Security secretary, Mullin, a former business owner, would take charge of one of the biggest government agencies, leading the nation’s disaster response, counterterrorism efforts, border security and the president’s mass deportation agenda. A former mixed martial arts fighter who once challenged the Teamsters president to a fight during a Senate hearing, Mullin has pledged to stay “focused on protecting the homeland" if he is confirmed. The Republican Party is considering a pivot on how it approaches immigration enforcement as more voters grow concerned over DHS agents’ aggressive tactics, which has led to the shooting deaths of at least three U.S. citizens since Trump retook office.

Tonight, I voted again to support a war powers resolution that would stop President Trump's war of choice in Iran. The President and his Administration started this war by failing to communicate any clear objective to the American people. And now, three weeks later, the consequences are coming home: 13 U.S. servicemembers dead and hundreds more injured, huge cost hikes on things like gas and fertilizer, and a cycle of military escalation that has no end in sight. The American people have seen this movie before in places like Iraq and Afghanistan — and they do not support it. And it’s why these issues of war of peace must be debated publicly in front of the American people.

The war in Iran is having a direct impact on Michiganders. They are feeling it in their pocketbooks. The price of gas is up. The last thing I saw when I left to fly back to Washington from Michigan was a 90-minute line for gas at Costco because it's so much cheaper.

The Secretary of Homeland Security is quite literally at the fulcrum of some major issues we're dealing with as Americans, like the role of law enforcement and ICE in our streets. On both lines of questioning, Senator Mullin didn't get there for me. I am a no.

If we ever get to the point where you are being asked to put armed ICE officers at polling locations, we have lost the plot as a country.

President Trump stated that if his party doesn’t win, the elections are rigged. The Secretary of Homeland Security has a key role to play in protecting America's elections. Senator Mullin did not vote to certify the 2020 election, and he still cannot commit that Trump lost.

The American people are crying out for reform to ICE. People watched with their own eyes as U.S. citizens were killed in the streets for protesting. They saw children tear-gassed and people randomly pulled out of their cars because they looked like they could be immigrants.

Sen. Slotkin: "If we ever get to the point where you are being asked to put armed ICE officers at polling locations, we have lost the plot as a country."

SLOTKIN: Who won the 2020 election? MARKWAYNE MULLIN: We know that President Joe Biden was sworn into office SLOTKIN: Do you feel you have the authority to put uniformed officers at polling locations in 2026? MULLIN: Only if there is a specific threat, not for intimidation

My bill puts common sense limits on AI at the Department of Defense. It ensures a human is involved when deadly autonomous weapons are fired and that AI cannot be used to spy on the American people.

TOMORROW AT 9:30AM: The Committee will question Markwayne Mullin on his qualifications for DHS Secretary. Tune in to the nomination hearing at @cspan or online at hsgac.senate.gov

NEW: Sen. Elissa Slotkin introduces a bill to regulate the Pentagon’s use of AI, an opening salvo in how Congress might address the military's use of the technology. nbcnews.com/tech/security/…