At the Dexter Forum’s first meeting in its new Senior Center home, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell warned of looming budget battles, a divided government, and the erosion of democratic freedoms.
Photo: U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell speaks at the Dexter Forum on August 2, 2025. Photo by Doug Marrin.
U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-6) attended the Dexter Forum on August 2, 2025, at the newly opened Dexter Senior Center. She was there as part of the event recognizing the forum’s co-founders, John Hansen and Karl Fink, during the group’s first meeting in its new location.
While the morning’s focus was on Hansen and Fink, Dingell also took a few minutes to brief the nearly 100 attendees on developments in Washington, offering sharp criticism of the White House.
Budget Deadlines Loom Over Congress
Dingell began with an assessment of the months ahead for Congress.
“The budget expires at the end of September, September 30, October one is the new fiscal year, and we could shut the government down again…I think we need to worry about what’s happening in this country,” she said.
She warned that funding decisions made by Congress were sometimes overridden by the administration.
“We appropriate bills and appropriate money, and we’re putting money into programs that all of you care about, and then the president decides he’s not going to put money into education for schools…not going to put money into vaccine research. We’re losing generations of scientific research. Other countries are no longer depending upon us,” Dingell said.
A Divided Political Climate
Dingell spoke frankly about the tone in Washington.
“I’m going to be very honest, everybody in both parties is at each other’s throats, and I think we all really have to worry right now. This is why this forum is so important,” she said.
Defending Basic Freedoms
She expressed concern about the erosion of public trust and democratic principles.
“We’re not talking about the issues that really matter and we need to be looking at. I don’t know why yesterday bothered me more than ripping healthcare away from 17 million Americans. I guess you just expect that of Donald Trump, but when you see somebody fired because they gave facts, they gave a statistical number that he didn’t like, and he fired him, you’re not going to be able to believe another fact or statistic that comes out of the federal government,” she said.
Dingell was referring to Friday, August 1, 2025, when President Donald Trump fired Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), just hours after the agency released a weaker-than-expected July jobs report, which stirred political arguments regarding the decision.
Dingell added,
“When you look at what’s happening with CBS…we don’t have freedom of the press anymore,” she said. “We’re losing freedom of speech. We’re losing freedom of religion. We don’t have due process…What are we going to do to protect the very basic freedoms?”
The Congresswoman was referring to Stephen Colbert’s “The Late Show” on CBS being canceled. CBS announced the cancellation as a financial decision, despite the show being the highest-rated late-night program. The decision has sparked controversy, with some suggesting political motivations behind the move.
Make Your Voice Heard
When Dingell opened the floor to questions, the first came from an attendee who asked, “What can we do about all this?” Dingell’s response was direct: “Keep making your voices heard. The protests are working,” she said, and encouraged residents to stay engaged at the local and national levels.
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