© 2025 Michigan State University Board of Trustees
Public Media from Michigan State University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Former Army Secretary Touts Slotkin Bid For Congress

Eric Fanning photo
Scott Pohl
/
WKAR-MSU
Former U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning (R) speaks with a voter at a congressional campaign event in East Lansing for Democrat Elissa Slotkin.

Former U.S. Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning was in East Lansing today to campaign for Democratic congressional candidate Elissa Slotkin. Both are Michigan natives with extensive military and national security credentials.

Fanning was the first openly gay service secretary in history, overseeing 1.4-million people and a $147-billion budget.

Fanning says before President Trump brought up his desire to remove transgendered people from military service, people in uniform thought the matter had been resolved. He expects the courts to step in. "How you go about saying a group of people can serve, and then saying they can't serve anymore," Fanning states. "There's not a precedent for that until you go back to World War II."

Slotkin hopes to unseat Republican Mike Bishop in Michigan’s eighth congressional district.

Scott Pohl has maintained an on-call schedule reporting for WKAR following his retirement after 36 years on the air at the station.
WKAR’s first live pledge drive since federal funding was eliminated is happening now. Our goal for the drive is $60,000 and reaching it will bring us one step closer to closing the federal funding gap.
Your support helps keep trusted journalism, classical music, and educational programming freely available for everyone in our community.
How can you help? Become a sustaining donor today. Already a sustainer? Please consider increasing your monthly contribution.