Why Rep. Haley Stevens Actually Loves Congress

And how the BBB will impact her constituents in Michigan

Sarah and Beth talk to Michigan representative Haley Stevens about how the BBB will impact her constituents in Michigan and why she actually loves Congress and the work of being a representative.

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Episode Resources

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• Rep. Haley Stevens Website

• Rep. Haley Stevens Instagram

Show Credits

Pantsuit Politics is hosted by Sarah Stewart Holland and Beth Silvers. The show is produced by Studio D Podcast Production. Alise Napp is our Managing Director and Maggie Penton is our Director of Community Engagement.

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Episode Transcript

Sarah [00:00:09] This is Sarah Stewart Holland.

Beth [00:00:10] This is Beth Silvers.

Sarah [00:00:12] On today's show, we're speaking with representative Haley Stevens about her time in Congress, and how president Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is going to affect her constituents in Michigan. Representative Stevens is now running for Senate. And we are so excited that she even joined us for the end of the show. So we're going to talk with her about what's on her mind Outside of Politics. Before we get to that, we are so excited to see so many of you in Cincinnati this weekend as we celebrate our 10th birthday. If you haven't gotten your virtual ticket yet, you can do so through the link in our show notes. You can watch in real time with us on Saturday night or later at your convenience. Everyone with a virtual ticket will get an email on Saturday with the link to join, as well as a fun bingo card that you can play along with and watch what's happening throughout the show. We'll also have some fun ways for you to interact with us and each other virtually, so you don't want to miss out. Up next, my friend, Representative Haley Stevens. Representative Stevens, welcome to Pantsuit Politics. You and I go way back. It's really hard for me not to just call you Haley.

Haley Stevens [00:01:24] You can call me Hailey.

Sarah [00:01:25] Listen, most people might not know this. Here we are at Pantsuit Politics. We're celebrating 10 years. And your Pantsuit Politics cred goes way, way back. Ten years back. You were at our very first listener meetup in Chicago. You were there. It's like seven people. You were one of them.

Haley Stevens [00:01:50] I pinched myself; it's been 10 years. A decade, just like that. A couple of books. I'm on the holiday mailer

Sarah [00:01:58] Listen, you told me at that trip that you were thinking about running for Congress. So you are also about to celebrate 10 years. So we're doing a lot. We're flashing back to every year. We're having a big birthday party, but you've got to be thinking this too, now as you're running for Senate, what have these years in the House taught you? The highs and the lows, because I'm assuming there have been both.

Haley Stevens [00:02:27] Yes, I think back to that catalytic moment when I was propelled to run for Congress in my beloved home state of Michigan, and it was a seat that Donald Trump had won. It was a seat that had been held by a Republican since before the moon landing, categorically. This was Michigan's 11th district. I was 33 years old. Nobody like me had really ever been elected to Congress before in Michigan, who looked like me, who was a Democrat. And my presumption was Donald Trump has just won the presidency; his budget is a mess. It is proposing dramatic cuts to just our scientific research enterprise. Let's start with that.

Sarah [00:03:20] No, wait, you're talking about the first term. It can easily very be confused with this current term as well.

Haley Stevens [00:03:27] I'm talking about the first term. And that time he was actually trying to go through Congress. So his budget was proposed for Congress to adopt. This time he just took a pen and illegally impounded funds that have gone into the federal government. We see the Big Beautiful Bill that has given a large tax cut to the wealthiest people in this country, but now we see clinical trials for cancer research that are crowdfunding. My friend Ruth Diago just shared that, which caught my attention. And then also cuts to our manufacturing sector, our manufacturing enterprise. And I work with these scientific research agencies, the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology. So back in 2017, when the first Trump administration was proposing these cuts, and I just thought, this will be so devastating for my state. Nobody is talking about our manufacturing economy, a really championing manufacturing in this district in the way I think it deserves. And I'm going to run. And nobody called me. Nobody recruited me. I put up my hand. A lot of people laughed at me.

Sarah [00:04:41] I did not laugh at you that evening.

Haley Stevens [00:04:43] You did not. You actually gave me some advice because you were once a local elected official yourself. You definitely gave me some good vibes

Sarah [00:04:51] You could see then that you had such a passion for it and you were really stepping out. But I imagine because you were not recruited, because you were in this new position and new person, there was a steep learning curve. When you look back at that moment, how you stepped into the halls of Congress and where you are now, what do you feel like has changed? What have you learned (I mean, we all know it has changed, which is basically everything) about legislating about your state, about the impact of all these changes?

Haley Stevens [00:05:22] Well, one thing I actually love to share on this note is that I have done more for Michigan truly than I have ever thought possible. I've worked in the Obama administration. I worked in a pretty historic capacity. I was chief of staff on the US auto rescue. The president had just won. We were in the middle of a great recession. I was asking myself what I could do for my state. I knew they were going to do something for the auto industry. I was a part of that team that helped structure the deal that saved General Motors and Chrysler and 200,000 Michigan jobs. It was obviously the Michiganders grit, resilience and determination that got us through that moment. So I think back to that time which was enormous history and you really felt the weight of it. And also what played the Obama administration shortly after the early days of the auto rescue was the arrival of the tea party, stagnation, austerity, the fact that the president didn't have anybody in Congress in leadership that really wanted to work with him. And so he had to find creative ways to get budgets done. Remember they shut down the government. So I knew that Congress and representation deeply mattered for people. I also had an understanding of key federal agencies and budgets and how to make that work for Michigan and how to use my voice and finding the way to obviously use the words and connect with people.

[00:06:50] But getting to the job, walking in the door, which by the way, I walked in the door of my new congressional office on January 3rd, 2019, carrying a UAW backpack that one of my UAW friends had given me while I was campaigning as part of a rally or something along those lines. Made in the USA and was carrying all my notebooks and materials from the campaign trail and from different things that I picked up along the way. I was carrying it all in my office, but right away I realized, oh my gosh, I've got a district team. I've got a on-the-ground team that I can set up. And within my first month in Congress, I started doing casework. That's part of our job. Helping people with issues before the federal government. And this is also why, by the way, these cuts to federal agencies really cut to the bone, because offices like mine rely on people in federal agencies to help our constituents. Passports, veterans issues, social security, social security disability, Medicare, Medicaid. The list goes on and on. Like to date, I have returned $150 million to the constituents of my district. And that's not in grants, that's in appropriations, that's in like the story I'm about to share with you, that is worth sharing. So within my first month, there was a woman who had a social security disability issue, $30,000 that was just gummed up in back pay from years and years of social security disability that she just didn't have access to.

[00:08:35] She had reached out to my office, but we had her case, we were able to call social security disability, we were to unlock the dollars and it hit her bank account. And I made the choice to give her a personal call when the case had been resolved because I just thought, this is incredible. I've just gotten sworn into Congress, all these things are happening, but I got this done for this woman. So I got her on the phone. And again, I live in middle-class suburbia. Dense suburbs right outside of Detroit, a little bit north of Detroit. And so I got this one on the phone. I said, "Hey, did you check your bank account? Did you see that we got you your back pay? She said, "Oh my gosh, it actually hit on Thursday. Thank you so much." She said, "Congresswoman, I have to share something with you. I have just left an abusive marriage and I'm a domestic violence survivor, and I am living with my children in a shelter.

[00:09:32] And right now, these resources that you have given me have allowed me to be able to put a security deposit down on my house so I can restart my life. Like, that's one story. Sarah, I am in the grocery store and people pull me aside. I called your office. You helped me with this. I was doing something with the National Guard and the National Guard man breaks face and is like, "I just have to tell you, I called your office and I had a question. Not only did you pick up, but you solved it in like two hours." That's what [inaudible], and that's not even the legislation I'm doing. Like, I've real laws. Like even last term when Congress it felt like it was doing nothing with remember Kevin McCarthy's ouster?

Sarah [00:10:19] I do.

Haley Stevens [00:10:21] You know all that fun. And it's like even last term I got named one of the most effective lawmakers and the most effective Democrat for Michigan. And so you identify problems, you get to work on legislation and put forward ideas and solutions and sometimes it works.

Beth [00:10:42] This is pretty counterculture representative because many of your colleagues are jumping ship and talking about how the house is not a fun place to work and you think you're going to go solve problems and you can't get anything done. And so why do you think that you are experiencing this so differently?

Haley Stevens [00:11:00] Well, I'm not Pollyanna, but I'm a big believer in something I learned early on in my career, where every job, and I know your listeners have their jobs and they're full of the daily drudgery, the daily work, just the daily tasks, and you know the things that aren't that exciting, and a little bit of the grind, and just kind of checking the boxes. For instance, I'm in the minority party and I get to vote no. I'm not compromising at the expense of my values, but my job is to stand up and by and large oftentimes vote no because again unless the Trump administration is offering me a deal for Michigan and something I care about I'm, not throwing away my vote and I'm not giving them my vote. And I'm certainly not voting for the chaos and the destruction and the devastation that we see coming down. To be honest with you, Beth, I think sometimes that can feel frustrating for folks. But jobs are full of daily work. That's probably about 75% of the job. Then another 10 to 15%, maybe 20%, is that continuous improvement like a way to do casework better or a way to respond better or way to connect in.

[00:12:18] And everyone has that in a job that they are working, just that continuous improvement and then you go for that five percent, that last thing which is a breakthrough innovation. And I said the whole time i was running for congress, I said I am there for that that period, that moment where I can get a bill done, or I can introduce something, or I can figure out how to make things work. And so that's how I've approached this job and how I found success. I also think that I sit on a really cool committee in Congress that doesn't get talked about a lot, and that's the Science Space and Technology committee. And believe it or not, about 10 years ago, the committee changed its beat. It's become very bipartisan, very solutions oriented within reason. Obviously, we don't just get along or go along to get along, rather, we have real discussions. But we really work on real things and we pass real laws. Like Ted Cruz has stopped my Privacy Enhancing Technologies Research Act, two terms in a row. And it's a bipartisan bill! That Speaker Johnson, when we were working on AI even said, "Hey, this is a priority for us." And it's a Stevens bill, but Ted Cruz has got to be a stick in the mud in the Senate, which is partly why I'm running for Senate so I can twist his arm and get that bill done and some of the other things.

Sarah [00:13:45] I want to see a picture like we saw of the Minnesota rep talking to Mike Lee after he posted that terrible tweet. I want see that with Haley Stevens and Ted Cruz where you like get a little bit of [inaudible]. I'm waiting for that moment. I am excited about that.

Haley Stevens [00:13:59] I'm going to bring the Stevens full effect to the state senate. And really what that is, is the Michigan effect. The other thing too, Beth, in terms of how congress has changed, we've been at 435 members since 1911. And, look, there's some questions of is that still working for us? Michigan is the 10th most populous state in the union we have 13 members of congress

Sarah [00:14:29] No. Uncap the House.

Haley Stevens [00:14:31] Have you seen my bill on this?

Sarah [00:14:34] No!

Haley Stevens [00:14:34] I wrote a bill to study how to expand the size of Congress.

Sarah [00:14:37] This is why I love you, this is why you're my friend. Did you know that I've been on this? Well, yeah, because you came to our tour and we talked about it in Michigan now that I'm like it's all coming back to me. It's outrageous, that's too few a people to represent too many people and it's not just in Michigan, it is everywhere.

Haley Stevens [00:14:53] Well, for me, everything's about Michigan. So for me I want to get my state more representation and more resources. By the way, we have all the great Lakes that pretty much touch our state. Like the largest fresh water masses in the world. We better have good representatives and we better have people that are also tied to the original tenets of our Constitution. The House is supposed to be scrappy. Like I always say, I don't need this big old office over here. I mean, pack people in, you know, shake hands in the hallway when you got constituents coming in, huddle with them, break people down by subject matter expertise. My colleagues all know I'm known for industrial policy that I'm trusted on workforce and innovation issues and manufacturing issues. They pull me aside on those topics. They listen to the bills I'm doing. And I also have a rapport with stakeholders on those subjects as well. So, no, I still believe in our democracy. And something that I tell young people all the time who visit my office or who come to the Capitol or who I get to see back home when I'm in classrooms or in schools in my district in Michigan is keep the ideas coming. This democracy is still ours to create, to innovate. Remember and heed those words, that we are here to form a more perfect union. We've got to keep forming it.

Beth [00:16:21] I want to ask you about everything being about Michigan as you consider the Senate. Does that change your orientation at all to be one of 100 instead of one of 435? There's been a lot of conversation about Senator Murkowski and the big bill and how she did what she could for Alaska, she thought, but also contributed to a bill that she thinks is a bad bill. So how do you think about that statewide role versus district-wide and the fact that the Senate as a body does tend to have a more nationwide focus than the house.

Haley Stevens [00:16:55] So there's a couple of things on that front. One is I am absolutely running to be Michigan's chief lawmaker and Michigan's Chief Champion. This is that essential key senior lawmaking role. And I am in my fourth term in the US House. I've got receipts. I've track records. I have been doing a job for the people of Michigan in tough moments and in decent moments; although, it feels like we've had more tough moments than we'd like. And I see this as a love letter to my state, the campaign I'm running. But in terms of the machination, when out of 435 members of Congress in the US House, Michigan only has 13 and we are feeling squeezed. And this isn't a knock on anyone else who I feel really privileged to serve with, but it is about some very specific issues. That face my state and my region. I always joke around with Marcia Kaptur, the longest serving woman in Congress. She literally got elected to Congress the year I was born. And she is remarkable. She was very young when she was elected and there was no one harder working or more dedicated. And she lives in Toledo. Detroit Toledo Windsor, DTW is our airport. So Marcy flies out to Detroit. So I always joked around with her, hey, you're like the 14th member of Congress from Michigan.

[00:18:22] Marcia Kaptur is Northeast Ohio. And we know that the joke is also that Toledo almost became a part of Michigan back in the 1800s and all that. But we talk a lot about regionalism from the standpoint of energy resources, efficiency, production capabilities. Kapture cares a lot about the Soo Locks, has played a big role in terms of getting them funding. The Great Lakes Authority, which is an energy resource allocation that came about during a couple of terms ago during the first two years of the Biden administration. And we got a designation for our state to be able to compete with the Tennessee Valley Authority and some of the out west resources. And that's about powering our manufacturing and industrial sector, as well as people's homes. The reason I'm sharing this is that, and to your question, Beth, is when we think about the Senate and what you just said, being Michigan's chief lawmaker, one of two for the state out of 100, it actually gives me the ability to throw Michigan's weight around even more. So it's like I actually am getting more access for our state. And it was somewhat ingest talking about pushing back on Ted Cruz or convincing Ted Cruz to allow the common sense legislation that I've put forward. And I know it's not personal. He's just a stick in the mud and doesn't share the same philosophy that I share in terms of lawmaking. Like I actually believe that we should pass laws to keep people safe.

Sarah [00:20:02] Well now he is very busy podcasting for the record. He's preoccupied.

Haley Stevens [00:20:07] They canceled votes this week so I get to get into deep thought with all of you. So I feel that in my bones how important this is for Michigan. How meaningful this seat is going to be, and whoever we send is going to an essential part of advocating and delivering for our state over and over again. Now in terms of special grabs because you're scared of upsetting your constituents? No, we're also passing the nation's laws. And you can read article one of the constitution and realize, yes, I'm always going to stand up for my state, but I'm certainly never going to vote for legislation that is a special tax cut for billionaires while stripping millions from Medicaid, but then saying, okay, well, maybe that's okay for the rest of the country. Just not if I can get some carve outs for my state. In a congressional district, I would say-- because I used to represent a very gerrymandered district, very insidiously neighborhood by neighborhood gerrymander. And people would say oh my gosh, I think I can vote for you. Wait, no, I can't vote for you. And I would say to them but no matter what, whether you can vote for me or not, I am voting for you. I am voting for you and your values and your aspirations for this country and this state from my perch in Michigan's 11th district. To be able to do that on behalf of the state of Michigan in the upper chamber, which sometimes definitely frustrates me, but I want to bring my Steven's scrappiness and doggedness and get-done attitude to that chamber. That's why I'm running.

Sarah [00:22:07] I want to talk about manufacturing, because you have been on that tip for a while, for sure, dedicated to the subject area that is now so hot among the Trump administration. Have you found any room for overlap with their policies? I'm assuming you do not believe tariffs are the secret to reinvigorating America's manufacturing. I'm just going out on a limb here.

Haley Stevens [00:22:33] No. I'm going to spare you my nerd out PowerPoint.

Sarah [00:22:40] This is a safe space for that. You can turn it on a little bit.

Haley Stevens [00:22:41] I see an industrial policy and manufacturing policy here in the United States of America, but I will very clearly say that 55 tariff announcements in 100 days is bad.

Sarah [00:22:53] Wait, is that how many there's been? I haven't been counting.

Haley Stevens [00:22:55] That was just by the 100 days.

Sarah [00:22:59] That's depressing. I wish you hadn't told me that total. It makes it worse. Fifty five in 100 days. Okay. So that's not it. You're saying that's not the way to do it, it's 55 out of 100 days?

Haley Stevens [00:23:14] That is called chaotic and disruptive and insane. And I know where you two live, and you are also a part of a very robust manufacturing ecosystem and complex, globally integrated supply chain. And this is truly no way to govern an economy. And it's bad for small business. It's bad for jobs and it's really bad for costs and that is something that every American can relate to because these terrorists are causing costs to go up. Why is the Trump administration proposing? It by the way, I have heard former trump economic advisors Like Stephen Moore say stop these tariffs. They're bad. There's a lot of disagreement, but why is he pursuing this? Well, it's a couple of reasons, in my opinion. One is certainly bad advice from Peter Navarro, who has a very insular, closed-off worldview. And two, because of the way in which the Republican Party chooses to spend the federal dollar. They will spend it for the wealthy. They will spend it on the wealthy, but they will not lift a finger to do real industrial policy. Why was infrastructure weak in Trump's first term when he could never get an infrastructure bill done? Because somebody like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who wasn't in Congress at the time, believes infrastructure spending is communism.

Sarah [00:24:51] Oh my God, yeah!

Haley Stevens [00:24:52] And this isn't a joke. Like I've got 100 foot water pipes in Michigan that need to get repaired and rebuilt. And no private sector entity is going to do that. That is going take cobble together resources from local, state, and federal. We have some places in Michigan who, no pun intended, are literally underwater because of these bills and these legacy costs coming down on infrastructure. I come from the state that built the first stretch of highway in America. The first electric stoplight. And these are governing principles, if not, but for the federal government. We did this in the Obama years. Exhaust every other possibility and then realize we're the ones to come in and plow the field. We're the one to come and set the table. So what do I mean by this? Look at the CHIPS Act. This was industrial policy that was bipartisan that got done. Look, I wrote Nancy Pelosi a letter a week.

[00:26:01] I pretty much should have written it in my diary the first time I heard her say the word chip for microchip in a caucus meeting. I was there when the president started talking about it in his state of the union. But this was legislation that was bipartisan that took, yes, $52 billion, a lot of money, lot of money, and said, "We're going to make microchips in the United States of America again in the way we need to, to not be dependent on an adversary." Aka China. $52 billion goes out into the marketplace. It gets signed into law August 22. By October, by November, $200 billion of private sector contributions, capital commitments made. This thing's paying for itself. By the end of the former president's term, it's at $500 billion. And then you have Trump saying, I'm canceling it. Because I think people confuse chips and IRA, I swear.

Sarah [00:27:01] Yeah, they do.

Haley Stevens [00:27:01] And I don't think he knew what he was talking about because he actually hasn't canceled it. He's fired a lot of people. But I just was with all the leaders from the semiconductor industry yesterday and the staff's still going and we need to do this. And that is why this week after a year plus of really hard work, I'm introducing legislation to do the same thing we did for microchips for critical materials otherwise known as rare earth elements, think manganese, copper, aluminum. 95% sometimes, baseline 85%, are refined and processed in China. So even if we're doing some of the domestic safe mining in Michigan or in the United States of America, it's going to China, it is becoming owned by China, and then it's coming back to us. And our trade partners, our democratic allies who believe in open free market.

[00:27:56] Capitalist principles are also up in arms because we are wholly dependent on China. And so my worldview as a Democrat running for US Senate in Michigan, as a democrat serving Michigan in the US House, is that we have to have these strategic partnerships and strategic investments that get made to create these jobs, to maintain these jobs. And to lessen supply chain dependencies on autocracies who are not our friends. And I'm not saying we're going to cut China off at the knees or, my gosh, chest dump our way into some national security crisis. It's the same wake up we had on microchips. The tide rolled out. And I'm there. I'm in automation alley. And all the cars were sitting on lots, fully made, but without hundreds of microchips to actually get them running. That happened in 2020, 2021.

Beth [00:28:54] I really appreciate you helping flesh out a vision around this. I struggle when we talk about re-industrialization because there is a piece of what I hear from the Trump administration that sounds like a fantasy to me. It sounds like we're just trying to go backward. That if we build factories and we make more here, then people will have the kinds of jobs they used to have with the kinds pensions they used have. Towns will be funded by those factories the way they used to be funded and we'll be living in some utopian version of the 1950s that really only exist in people's memories anyway. So I can understand chips, rare earth minerals, the kinds of things you're talking about as part of a national security strategy for sure. What is the worker vision? At a time when AI is doing more and more, we know that these factories aren't going to look like they used to look and the towns are not going to be whisked back to that nostalgic version by the presence of the factories. What is the vision for workforce in this future where we're doing smart re-industrialization?

Haley Stevens [00:29:58] And one of the things are United Auto Workers, the UAW, the very large union, one of the things they talk about is under capacity in our plants. And so seeing some of that come back, seeing these companies choose to make in America, obviously, we don't want to penalize people for making in America. And what the aggressive trade policies of the Trump administration have done is make it very costly. For instance, Ford, which I know has a big presence in the state that Sarah calls home, 83% of their production is happening in the United States of America. You want to drive an American made car? Buy a Ford. I'm not selling cars. I'm just Michigan.

Sarah [00:30:43] You're Michigan, you're always selling cars.

Haley Stevens [00:30:45] Yeah, right. And those are original equipment manufacturers, and those are really important and key jobs. And, look, we're facing a duality, which is we want to keep innovation and manufacturing production going in the United States of America. And we don't want to box ourselves out of the future. And so as someone who played in very interesting role and had a seat at the table during a very interesting moment in American industrial history, I guess you could say, with the auto rescue, our job was not to control the day-to-day management of those companies. We are not China. We do not have state-owned enterprises. We have a free market. We have capitalist principles. The automakers, a handful of years ago, gave a vision for where they were going to take their companies. The domestic big three automakers felt threatened by Tesla and their model, and they wanted to explore the ZEB space, the zero emission vehicle space, and that was their vision. Look, they're selling their cars and they also are selling them globally. They're a lot of times making and innovating here. But one of the things that we know is that we want to give people options and we also want to achieve and hit other goals. For instance, safety. We've heard from automakers who are saying, hey, we need to have minimized auto accidents, zero fatalities. Wouldn't that be incredible in the year 2025?

[00:32:22] And so I'm getting a little wonky into policy and I don't want to skip over Beth's question, because what this comes down to is what type of manufacturing and what type of jobs are we going to have here? And it is desirable to talk about shoring up supply chains and really doing the hard work and investment strategies and partnership strategies that bring jobs back that support manufacturing in a place like Michigan or anywhere else, frankly, in this country. I'm a believer in a 21st century labor movement. I believe that what we achieved in Michigan and the rapport that we have alongside big industry with workers who are literally doing really hard jobs that are very physically demanding. And so when you start to hear people saying raise the retirement age, not everyone can work on a factory floor, lifting and screwing and tying and sweating it out till they're 70 years old. They're just maybe not even physically going to be able to do it. I remember during the strikes a couple years ago, I had a UAW worker tell me he was doing the jobs of three people. So I really believe the workforce safety piece, the quality of life piece. We now have many dual income earning households. We have more single households than ever, individuals living on their own, doing everything on their own.

[00:33:47] And you're spot on Beth; we're not going back to the past. The immediate post-World War II era had a China that was mostly agricultural and very poor. They did not have the tool and die and the aggressive supply chain capacities that they have now. And we need to be very dogged about where and how we are dependent and work to lessen those dependencies. That remains important, but it doesn't happen just because you say it. So I'll conclude by saying this because this is so important and I appreciate the time, there is a company that has gone public that I have visited through my manufacturing Monday program. And by the way, the reason I'm into manufacturing is because I am a geek for it and I do good work around it and it's a driver of our economy and it is important for our country. But Detroit Axel has gone public now and said because of the tariffs, they are on the verge of shutting down one of their Michigan manufacturing locations and moving to Mexico because they will not have to deal with the tariffs.

[00:34:54] That is not the only company saying that. This was abrupt. This was not well thought out. There hasn't been handholding. In fact, they fired all the people in the critical federal agencies that could have worked with these companies and that's not going to work. But things that do work are a mid to long-term vision, the handholding of industry, research that identifies critical technology and innovation areas that allow us to maintain technology dominance. That is what is happening with batteries, with hydrogen, with autonomous technologies. And we do need to be ruthless. We do need be aggressive. And I will tell you, as someone who lives in a state that borders Canada, never in my wildest imagination did I think we would be entering into a trade war with Canada. Like literally Michiganders work in Canada in Michigan owned companies or American owned companies. It's $6 billion to build a new smelter. We've got one that's coming up because of the IRA.

Sarah [00:36:22] I want to give you a chance to pivot quickly to your Senate race because what we talked about a lot on this podcast, what got said over and over and again post the presidential, is that Democrats need to spend some time listening. So I imagine that's what you're doing right now, is a lot of listening. What are you hearing as you make your way across the great state of Michigan for this senatorial campaign? What are people frustrated about? What's getting missed? What are you hearing on the ground?

Haley Stevens [00:36:50] Well, and you were so right about the listening component because my leadership belief as someone who seeks office and who is serving in elected office is listening, learning and leading in that order. That's the job. And right now, what I am hearing on blast from the people of Michigan is that rising costs are freaking people out. Rising costs that are meeting the chaos of the Trump agenda. A big bad bill that is immediately getting rid of the Affordable Care Act subsidies that will rise costs by the end of the year, that will hit people's pocketbooks. Parents who are freaked out about paying for the kids' sports because everything is more expensive. Grocery bills that are going on credit cards; 1.2, 1.3 trillion dollars of credit card debt in the United States of America. It's not that everyone is selfish and living outside of their means. It's just not adding up. The math isn't mathing. Take-home is not measuring up with the cost of living. And we see it also on the big ticket items, particularly with housing and with automobiles. It's a scary time right now and we need serious policy solutions and serious listening to be done on this front. And one area that I am very eager to call the trump administration as a candidate for united states senate in Michigan, is that you are doing nothing to lower people's costs?

Sarah [00:38:28] We are grateful that you are out on the campaign trail. Before we let you go, we always do one quick question. What's on your mind Outside of Politics? We know you're working really hard right now. So how are you--

Haley Stevens [00:38:41] I'm trying to get through a Tiger's game.

Sarah [00:38:43] That's what we were going to say. How are you taking care of yourself? What are your guilty pleasures? What are you watching? Like when you have some downtime, how are you shifting off? Because you could tell you're passionate, you're in it, you're it with Michigan. So how do you shut off your brain and take a little downtime?

Haley Stevens [00:39:00] Well, I certainly love to go on long walks. The walks are great because I've got nature trails right by my house and it's like that's a nice escape.

Sarah [00:39:12] Well, and you live in Michigan, so it's not 95 degrees and humid. That's a real gift.

Beth [00:39:16] But I'm a little bit worried that your long walks are where you work out your ideas.

Haley Stevens [00:39:21] Okay, another confession. I got Netflix this year.

Sarah [00:39:26] That you just got Netflix? That's hilarious. Okay, have you watched Poop Cruise? This is what everybody's watching on Netflix right now.

Haley Stevens [00:39:34] The documentary? I think I did.

Sarah [00:39:36] Yes, it is. It's about that cruise where they lost power and they had to poop in bags for four days.

Haley Stevens [00:39:42] I'm not going on a cruise; I'll tell you that much. I'm working to get out the votes and earn the votes of Michiganders. But I'm so blessed too with great family. Like my parents are my best friends. I see them all the time when I'm home. They're total characters. They're full of energy. My dad's driving all over town. He's like come to yoga with me. Let's go to a meditation class, dad. Then my mom and I meet up, we cook dinner. It's a treat.

Beth [00:40:12] Do you have a favorite Netflix show.

Haley Stevens [00:40:14] Okay, what am I watching right now? Ginny and Georgia, it's getting a little weird. But that's brain candy, right?

Sarah [00:40:22] Yes, you watch it, it's mindless and then you're like how did we end up here?

Haley Stevens [00:40:28] Some of them are a little dark.

Sarah [00:40:30] Yeah, you're like, how did we get here?

Haley Stevens [00:40:34] Perfect Couple.

Sarah [00:40:35] Oh, that must be good.

Beth [00:40:37] Yeah. I watched that. The Nicole Kidman one?

Haley Stevens [00:40:39] Yeah, and it's like a murder mystery.

Beth [00:40:43] I think it feels like a beach read on your Tv.

Sarah [00:40:46] Okay. I'm interested. You have my attention.

Haley Stevens [00:40:51] And my problem is I'm watching Netflix because, to Beth's point, if I'm reading, I'm totally not shutting off my brain. Like, I've got my minerals book...

Sarah [00:41:03] I can see you. I can see you reading your Critical Minerals book. That's an adorable visual.

Beth [00:41:08] I subscribe to Science Magazine.

Sarah [00:41:09] Oh! That's cute.

Beth [00:41:10] I think that's wonderful. And I'm so glad you're in Congress. And I would like to prescribe more of the Perfect Couple and maybe the Residents. Have you tried the Residents?

Haley Stevens [00:41:19] I will check that out.

Beth [00:41:20] It's like Clue.

Sarah [00:41:22] The pit. People like the Pit the one where they're [crosstalk].

Beth [00:41:25] It's stressful though you'll have too many ideas, I'm afraid.

Sarah [00:41:27] Okay, no, never mind. Yeah, because you'll get in health care policy. That is a problem when you have a brain for policy. Every show you're like, well, we should do something about this problem they presented in this procedural drama. I love it. I'm so proud of you for getting Netflix. That's good. Representative Stevens, AKA my beloved friend Haley, thank you so much for coming back on Pantsuit Politics. You are always welcome here, obviously. Although, it does make me mad because then all our listeners are like, "She's my representative." I'm like, stop bragging. Stop bragging, I don't want to hear it.

Haley Stevens [00:41:59] We have one in Michigan's 11th district. We do.

Sarah [00:42:01] I know. I know you do. They roll into our inbox anytime we cross paths.

Beth [00:42:06] Thank you so much.

Sarah [00:42:07] Thank you.

Haley Stevens [00:42:07] Thanks ladies. Good to see you.

Sarah [00:42:10] Thank you so much for joining us today. We can't wait to see all of you, either in person or virtually in Cincinnati this weekend. We'll be back on Friday with another flashback episode, and until then, keep it nuanced, y'all.