U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten (D-MI) has been an immigration attorney, a Department of Justice civil rights litigator, and now she’s hosting her own YouTube show, “Straight Talk with Scholten.”
Her shows have been focused on specific actions that the Trump administration has taken recently — DOGE cutting funding to cancer research, Trump’s budget bill, and Medicaid cuts — and talks about how they impact her constituents and all Americans. The second-term congresswoman represents West Michigan, holding the seat that used to be held by Gerald Ford, the only Michigander to become President. And she says that kitchen-table issues remain the most important ones in her district.
This week, Scholten and several of her colleagues launched a new agenda, “End Corruption Now,” introducing bills to subject federal lawmakers to a lifelong ban on lobbying, bar members of Congress from stock trading, and protect independent watchdogs from political retaliation.
“It's a group of us who came in this moment of: What are we going to do at a time when we see our country under attack?” Scholten said during an interview with Lincoln Square Executive Editor Susan J. Demas. “Many come from service backgrounds, either civil service like myself in the Justice Department or serving our country in our armed forces.”
In 2024, Scholten was the first member of the Michigan delegation to call for former President Joe Biden to withdraw from the race after his debate performance. She received some blowback from Democrats, telling us that the Michigan Democratic Party threatened to cut off funding. She emphasized that Biden did end up heeding such calls and he did eventually end his campaign, although perhaps it was too late for the party to win last year.
Now she says House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) is getting it right by telling Democrats to hold town halls — something many Republicans have refused to do — so they can better listen to what Americans care about.
And tune in to hear what Scholten has to say about Michigan’s U.S. Senate race with senior U.S. Senator Gary Peters retiring. It’s a must-hold seat for Democrats if they want to take back the Senate in 2026.
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