(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., appeared to change her tune Friday on her efforts to block federal funding for DHS following the attack on Temple Israel in Michigan.
The synagogue attack, carried out by Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, marked the latest attack on U.S. soil as Democrats block funding for DHS while demanding extensive reforms.
Ghazali, a Lebanese national who became a naturalized U.S. citizen, died of a self-inflicted gunshot. He rammed his truck filled with explosives into the doors of Temple Israel.
He exited the vehicle armed with a rifle and ran down a hallway while his car burned outside. Over 140 preschoolers and staff were inside the premises at the time.
Before Friday’s attack, Slotkin had been one of the loudest voices demanding an overhaul of DHS funding. At a press conference updating the public on the attack, she reversed course:
“I would say the department, because they are essential workers, they have been at work. Certainly in Michigan, we have a ton of DHS folks, CBP and so they are on the call and they are doing their jobs. Certainly, we need to fund the Department of Homeland Security and we need, in my view, to cut away all the conversation on ICE, which is its own conversation, from all of the core missions at the Department of Homeland Security. But they’re essential, they are on the job and they are working today.”
Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) caves and says DHS should be funded.
Slotkin says this now only because she received enormous blowback Thursday after the synagogue was attacked in Michigan yet she then still disgracefully voted to defund DHS.pic.twitter.com/yVkEeBDbVZ
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 13, 2026
Slotkin previously wrote on X that ICE required major reforms and accused Republicans of holding funding for agencies like FEMA, the Coast Guard, and TSA “hostage” during the reforms debate.
In another post, she wrote: “Last week, I voted no on the bill that included funding for ICE. I was unable to support more funding without serious, legislated change.”
In a Jan. 30 post, Slotkin again said she voted against funding legislation that included ICE, citing incidents in Minneapolis that she argued reflected broader concerns about abuses of Americans’ rights.
“Our fundamental rights as Americans, trampled. I have talked about these very issues for a year now, and I was unable to support more funding without serious, legislated change,” Slotkin added.
Last week, I voted no on the bill that included funding for ICE. I was unable to support more funding without serious, legislated change. pic.twitter.com/u09Surivg3
— Sen. Elissa Slotkin (@SenatorSlotkin) February 2, 2026
