(Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance photo) U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, then a House member, speaks at the Michigan Democratic Party’s election night watch party in Detroit on Nov. 5.

WASHINGTON — Michigan U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin will give Democrats’ response to President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday night, placing a spotlight on one of the upper chamber’s newest members as her party struggles to find its footing following election losses.

Slotkin, a former Central Intelligence Agency analyst who served three terms in the U.S. House before securing election to the Senate, wrote in a statement she’s “looking forward to speaking directly to the American people next week.”

“The public expects leaders to level with them on what’s actually happening in our country,” Slotkin wrote. “From our economic security to our national security, we’ve got to chart a way forward that actually improves people’s lives in the country we all love, and I’m looking forward to laying that out.”

Trump’s speech, scheduled for 9 p.m. Eastern, would normally be called a State of the Union, except during a president’s first year in office, when it’s simply an address to a joint session of Congress.

Slotkin is one of 10 Senate Democrats who represent a state Trump won during the November elections. The others include Arizona’s Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, Georgia’s Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, Michigan’s Gary Peters, Nevada’s Catherine Cortez Masto and Jacky Rosen, Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman and Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wrote in the announcement that Slotkin is “nothing short of a rising star in our party.”

“She will offer a bold vision of hope, unity, and a brighter future for everyone, not just the wealthy few at the top,” the New York Democrat wrote. “Elissa Slotkin will layout the fight to tackle the deep challenges we face today, chart a path forward, and shape the future of our nation.”

Slotkin, 48, received an undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1998 before earning a master’s degree from Columbia University in 2003.

After working for the CIA, she was a staff member in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and a staff member on the National Security Council before going on to work at the Department of State.

Slotkin moved over to the Defense Department, where she rose to become acting assistant secretary of defense. She was elected a member of the U.S. House in 2018.

She then ran for Michigan’s open Senate seat and won election last year by a 19,000-vote margin out of 5.4 million votes.

Alabama Republican Sen. Katie Britt gave her party’s response last year after President Joe Biden delivered his final State of the Union address to Congress.

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