Please try another search
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) listens during a Senate Finance Commmittee hearing on President Biden's 2023 budget, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., June 7, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
2/2
By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow, the chair of the agriculture committee and a key lawmaker on electric vehicle and cryptocurrency policy, said on Thursday she will not seek re-election in 2024.
Stabenow, a Democrat, is in her fourth term in the U.S. Senate.
Stabenow's seat could be crucial to control of the Senate in 2025. Democrats currently control the Senate by a narrow 51-49 majority but must defend 23 seats in the 2024 election, including seats of three independents who caucus with Democrats, while Republicans have 10 seats to defend.
Stabenow wrote legislation in 2007 to create a U.S. government auto loan program that helped fund low-emissions vehicle production for Ford Motor (NYSE:F), Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Nissan (OTC:NSANY) and was a key advocate of the government rescue of General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Chrysler in 2008.
Stabenow, 72, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, has been an advocate of expanding electric vehicle tax credits and other tax incentives to produce batteries, EVs and more semiconductors in the United States.
"This is the moment for me to pass the torch," Stabenow said in an interview. "I don't want to do this when I am being rolled out in a wheelchair."
She has pushed for Buy America requirements and other steps to boost U.S. manufacturing.
"The things I have worked on are to emphasize making things here and incentivize making things here and bringing jobs home," Stabenow said.
Stabenow will help lead negotiations in the coming months over a massive farm spending bill passed every five years that funds U.S. public food benefits and farm commodity programs.
The current $428 billion farm bill expires on Sept. 30 but could be extended by a few months. "I am confident we will get it done," Stabenow said.
Stabenow reiterated Thursday that Congress needs to pass legislation in the wake of the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX saying lawmakers need to adopt "necessary safeguards to the digital commodities market."
She said she was dumbfounded that former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried previously endorsed her bipartisan cryptocurrency legislation "that bans everything he did... He would have gotten caught sooner" if it had been in effect.
Several Michigan lawmakers are reportedly considering running but Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a Michigan resident, said Thursday in a statement he is "not seeking any other job."
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.