The state of Michigan is leading a coalition of states in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Education and, specifically, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. The state says DeVos is intentionally misreading the CARES Act and falsely directing relief money to rich private schools. The CARES Act says how the money should be allocated between […]
NY Times: A Governor on Her Own, With Everything at Stake
From her living room, Gretchen Whitmer has led Michigan through a pandemic, an economic meltdown and even a dam collapse — all at a time when government itself seems broken. Read the full article here.
Detroit Free Press: Group with GOP ties launching petition to repeal Whitmer’s emergency powers
LANSING — A group with ties to the Michigan Republican Party is launching a petition drive to repeal the emergency powers Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is using to address the coronavirus pandemic. Unlock Michigan has submitted petition language for consideration by the Board of State Canvassers. The move comes as Michigan has seen a significant drop in COVID-19 […]
NY Times: Gretchen Whitmer: The Coronavirus Is a Civil Rights Battle, Too
George Floyd’s death and the pandemic both reveal American infections. Why is the federal government undermining my fight against them? Read the full article here.
Mlive: ‘Things feel so dark,’ Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says on riots, coronavirus and Midland flooding
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer provided blunt statements on how Michigan in 2020 has faced crisis after crisis, saying it is “hard to believe on a beautiful Sunday that things feel so dark.” She traded statements with Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist in a social media post about how the state has dealt with the COVID-19 outbreak, the Midland dam […]
The Guardian: ‘Big Gretch’: how the pandemic pushed Michigan’s governor into the spotlight
On Monday morning, Detroit local media reported on assassination threats made by members of rightwing Facebook groups against Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer. That afternoon, Whitmer addressed the tense situation by taking aim at largely silent Republicans in the legislature. “This could be avoided if Republican leadership in the legislature would step up and denounce that kind of […]
Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Helps Turn Michigan Into 2020 Election’s Ground Zero
The country has 50 states, obviously, but only about a dozen are really competitive when it comes to a presidential election. An even smaller subset, perhaps just half a dozen, will form the true electoral battleground for 2020. And in recent days, one state out of that select group has seemed to emerge as ground […]
NBC News: Michigan Gov. Whitmer wants to ban guns from Capitol after armed anti-lockdown protests
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer wants to bar weapons from being taken into the state Capitol after anti-lockdown protesters showed up with firearms, she told NBC News in a wide-ranging interview. Whitmer’s comments came after gun-toting militia protesters joined a larger group demanding that she reopen parts of the state’s economy in a demonstration last week. The […]
Detroit Free Press: Gov. Whitmer sends Bell’s beer care package to ‘SNL’ star Cecily Strong
Well, one thing’s for certain: Cecily Strong won’t hold the wrong beer ever again when portraying Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. You may recall last week Strong played the role of the Michigan governor during a “Saturday Night Live” sketch that didn’t make the live airing but was posted online after. The State of Michigan took notice — and so did […]
Washington Post: After a day of armed protesters and a GOP lawsuit threat, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extends state of emergency
Confronted with armed protesters at the state capitol and a lawsuit threat from GOP lawmakers over her executive orders, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) was unmoved, deciding to extend Michigan’s state-of-emergency declaration against the legislature’s wishes and without its approval. Whitmer’s executive actions on Thursday, which extend various business closures and the emergency declaration to May 28, […]