Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin has hit the ground running, announcing Tuesday that she had been appointed to a powerful House committee in her freshman term, while also requesting federal assistance for furloughed federal workers.

Slotkin was appointed to serve on the House Armed Services Committee. The committee is responsible for issues pertaining to U.S. armed forces, as well as performing oversight and funding of the Department of Defense, where Rep. Slotkin previously served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense. Slotkin said she was, “proud to be able to work on issues important to veterans, members of the military and their families, as well as ensuring the Department of Defense is equipped with the oversight and resources it needs to maintain the greatest military in the world.”

Meanwhile, the Holly Democrat also announced Tuesday that she has sent a letter (posted below) to Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, asking her to proactively work with student loan providers to help ease the burden on federal workers struggling to make student loan payments due to the ongoing government shutdown. Last week, more than 6,000 federal workers in Michigan on furlough or working without pay missed a paycheck due to the partial government shutdown, which is now the longest in history at 26 days.

Slotkin says she met with a roundtable of federal workers employed by the TSA, Customs and Border Protection, IRS, EPA, and other federal agencies who detailed their struggle to make ends meet, including an inability to make student loan payments -- and their worry that missed payments and bad credit could affect their ability to keep their jobs in certain federal agencies. Slotkin requested that DeVos reach out to student loan providers and ask that they communicate with borrowers all of the available options to refinance their loans, or where possible, extend special dispensation for those affected workers who do not meet refinancing criteria. (JK)