Two weeks ago, Sen. Elissa Slotkin came to my campus for an interview at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics. Despite our political differences, I, like many other students, was very excited to hear her speak — it is not often a sitting U.S. senator comes to talk to students, after all.
However, Slotkin did not just come to talk about the midterm elections or to encourage political participation among students. In fact, she came to do the opposite, at least as it pertained to one segment of students.
“I want young people coming out of school to say, ‘Should I go work for the Trump administration? Like, that sounds fun, I might get an opportunity.’ I want them to be like, ‘[blasphemy], that might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don’t want, so let me avoid participating in that.’ I want that deterrence message,” Slotkin told the audience.
I was shocked. The senator sought to send a “deterrence message” to young conservatives interested in serving our country in government. How would this “deterrence” be achieved? By investigating myriad members of the Trump administration, up and down the chain of command. Slotkin spoke so highly of our “democracy,” yet I was left wondering whether my friends had a place in the “democracy” she envisioned.
During high school, I spent a semester serving as a U.S. Senate page. It gave me enormous respect for the Senate. Despite their policy differences, the senators I encountered seemed genuinely excited for the next generation of public servants and sought to encourage our future careers.
Slotkin shattered that perception. I still believe such a vision of the Senate is achievable, but only if it acts; only if, as a body, it recognizes that such conduct is unbecoming of one of its members. The Senate is fundamentally a collegial body. Such collegiality requires it to define what conduct should be encouraged and what should be discouraged.
I believe Slotkin should not be censored. She, like every other public official, should be free to speak her mind. In fact, doing so is valuable, as it allows every American to know what her true intentions are should she take power in Washington.
But while free speech is absolutely an American bedrock, our society and law have long recognized that threats of harassment and other potentially illegal behavior do not constitute free speech. Here is what I would like to see instead of censure that would protect these basic free speech norms forbidding government intimidation of law-abiding citizens.
First, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics should open a preliminary inquiry based on the complaints of myself, the Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) formal filing, and anyone else who has come forward about this threat.
Second, Sen. Slotkin should publicly answer these three questions: Was the purpose of the “deterrence message” to discourage young people from taking lawful jobs in the executive branch? Does she believe a senator may use investigations, or the threat of them, for that purpose? Would she say the same if a Republican senator said it about staffers in a Democratic administration?
Third, the committee should reach a clear determination based on the facts presented. If the committee concludes Sen. Slotkin did not breach the Ethics Manual, it should say so and explain why. Make the line explicit for senators and citizens alike.
In reaching that determination, the committee should weigh heavily the chilling effect such tacit approval of government intimidation would have on future political participation among young Americans. Should the committee conclude Sen. Slotkin’s conduct is not unbecoming of a senator, I deeply fear its consequences for our republic.
In any event, Sen. Slotkin should have the opportunity to clear her name. Indeed, I have already invited her back to campus to set the record straight in an interview with me or one of my colleagues — and I have yet to hear anything from her office.
If Sen. Slotkin does not correct her statement or apologize to the millions of young conservatives she appeared to threaten when she came to our campus, an ethics investigation is warranted. I now have a Change.org petition for readers to sign calling on the Senate to open such an investigation. A formal letter of admonition or any other action taken by the committee would send the message that young people of all backgrounds are welcome to serve our country.
For the sake of me, my friends, and the millions of other young Americans who share my values, I humbly ask that the Senate act to protect our American right to serve in government without impediments to our constitutional right to free association.
