Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used her State of the State address Wednesday to renew criticism of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy, while Michigan Republicans are pointing to a recent study which shows the tariffs are boosting Michigan auto production and jobs.
Whitmer, who has met with the president multiple times to discuss trade, said uncertainty in the national economy is weighing on Michigan families and businesses. She also blamed tariffs for rising prices.
“People are nervous about the national economy, and, while your paycheck may have grown, the cost of everything else has too,” she said. “Many middle class families tread water, struggle to pay the bills, find good jobs and get ahead . . . Tariffs have jacked up prices.”
Whitmer added that she is hopeful in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling which struck down some of the tariffs.
“Businesses of all sizes are facing higher costs and massive uncertainty,” she said. “I’m hopeful that last week’s Supreme Court decision will force Congress and the president to work out a more strategic trade policy.”
That ruling has not led to an end to tariffs though, just a shift from the Trump administration in how they are set.
Michigan House Republicans countered Whitmer’s criticisms by highlighting findings from the University of Michigan that suggest the long-term impact of tariffs could be positive for the state’s automotive industry.
In a statement, House Republicans said, “Shortly after University of Michigan found that tariffs are growing Michigan’s economy and boosting jobs, Gov. Whitmer and Michigan Dems are saying POTUS should change his trade policy.”
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, pointed out that tariff policy is working as intended.
“When you have tariffs, you are trying to disincentivize the purchase of foreign cars and foreign components, and you’re trying to incentivize the purchase of domestic cars in Michigan and domestic manufacturing. That’s exactly what’s happening,” Hall said in a recent press conference. “Tariffs are creating jobs in the Michigan automotive manufacturing industry, and so that’s a good thing. The tariffs are working.”
The University of Michigan study, released late last year, noted that earlier projections showed tariffs would reduce employment in Michigan’s auto sector.
However, researchers revised those projections, writing that “recent changes such as the extension of rebates on parts tariffs for domestically assembled vehicles have shifted our estimate of the tariffs’ eventual impact on domestic auto production from a small negative to a small positive.”
The study now estimates that current trade policy will increase U.S. light vehicle production by 2.7% in the medium run, instead of reducing it by 3.1% as previously forecast.
Researchers added that they “believe they will eventually provide net support for employment and economic activity in Michigan.”
While they admitted that “tariffs are expected to provide a strong protective effect,” researchers still cautioned that the state’s economy is “highly exposed to trade.”
“Although we believe the Trump Administration is approaching a more settled trade policy,” they said, “Michigan’s economy has recently been navigating choppy waters.”

Rocket Companies and Compass International Holdings announced a three-year alliance this week designed to expand housing inventory on Redfin’s platform and provide sellers more flexibility in how they list their homes.
Rocket, the Detroit-based mortgage lender and parent company of Redfin, said Compass’ “Coming Soon” listings will now appear immediately on Redfin.com. “Private Exclusive” properties will soon follow.
The companies said the move could bring over 500,000 additional listings to Redfin through Compass’ network, which includes brands such as @properties, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, CENTURY 21, Christie’s International Real Estate, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran, ERA, and Sotheby’s International Realty.
Through the partnership, sellers working with Compass can display homes on Redfin with no days on market, no price history, and no automated home valuation estimates. Listings remain compliant with Multiple Listing Service rules, the companies said.
“Some sellers want maximum exposure immediately,” Redfin said in a press release. “Others want to test pricing before going fully public. Some prefer privacy. Others do not want their home syndicated across thousands of websites that begin tracking negative insights like days on market and price history on day one.”
“Offering seller choice and making it easier to test the market without negative insights has the potential to increase overall inventory coming on the market, resulting in improved access and affordability for homebuyers,” the company added.
Rocket CEO Varun Krishna said supply remains the central problem.
“When barriers are removed, and supply grows, affordability improves,” Krishna said. “Today’s challenge is friction in the homebuying process and a lack of inventory. By bringing search, agents, and financing into one connected platform, we can help more sellers enter the market, reduce complexity for buyers, and make homeownership more attainable.”
Compass Chairman and CEO Robert Reffkin said sellers want more control.
“We believe listing agents should be connected directly with interested buyers, and sellers should have the freedom to list their homes in the manner and method they choose without fear of misleading insights that damage its value,” Reffkin said.
Rocket also announced mortgage incentives for Compass clients, including a one-percentage-point interest-rate reduction for the first year of a loan or a lender credit of up to $6,000 to reduce upfront costs or first-year payments.
The announcement comes as President Donald Trump has made housing affordability a focus of his second term.
“Mortgage rates are the lowest in four years and falling fast, and the annual cost of a typical new mortgage is down almost $5,000 just since I took office,” Trump said during his State of the Union address.
“Low interest rates will solve the Biden-created housing problem while at the same time protecting the values of those people who already own a house,” he added.
Economists have long argued that expanding supply remains the most direct way to address housing costs.

Fraud investigations in Minnesota are heating up as state Republicans push for stricter oversight and accountability measures.
As part of that effort, they are highlighting the need for a statewide independent Office of the Inspector General.
State Senator Michael Kreun, R-Blaine, helped sponsor the legislation to form that office and has been a staunch advocate for it.
“An independent statewide Office of the Inspector General is essential to provide nonpartisan oversight, promoting transparency and accountability by investigating fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement across government agencies,” Kreun told The Center Square in an interview. “Operating independently ensures that audits are objective, free from political interference, and focused on protecting taxpayer funds and upholding ethics.”
The office would have broad authority to investigate all providers, recipients, and agencies. Similar legislation was proposed last year but died without Democrat support.
Democrats say they are serious about addressing fraud though. On Thursday, Gov. Tim Walz announced his own “comprehensive anti-fraud package.”
“You can trust me on this. The person who’s angriest about this fraud is me,” Walz said during a press conference.
Yet, the Democrat also expressed doubt about fraud in Minnesota and concern with President Donald Trump and his recent announcement that his administration is declaring a “war on fraud.”
“They used false pretense to come in on Metro Surge and we saw the catastrophic damage that was done and the deaths,” Walz said. “Now we’re seeing them turn to this . . . they’re gonna freeze the money because of fraud. What specific fraud? What did you see that the state didn’t knew [sic]?”
Walz’ comments sparked backlash from Republicans, especially as Minnesota state officials are being accused of being complicit in the alleged fraud.
“While there is no current evidence that Governor Walz personally committed fraud, the evidence has shown that his administration looked the other way while the fraud was occurring,” Kreun said. “The Walz Administration ignored whistleblower warnings and failed to exercise proper oversight, which was a failure of leadership.”
This all comes as independent and federal investigations are ongoing after billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded fraud schemes were uncovered in recent months, as extensively reported by The Center Square, with claims the fraud could total between $9 billion and $20 billion in Minnesota alone.
Kreun said he is hopeful Democrats will support the effort this time.
“With the US Attorney’s Office estimating that our fraud problem may be in excess of $9 Billion, this is not the time to make this bill partisan. Even though the House Democrats killed the bill in 2025, I remain hopeful they will get on board and do the right thing this year,” he said. “In 2026, we should be past the discussion about if an OIG is necessary, and the focus should be on how to best structure it to be effective and truly independent.”
So far, that has not been the case. Democrats have been reluctant to support the bill and Republicans allege they are attempting to “gut it,” even when they have been supportive.
“Democrats have already voted against advancing the massively-bipartisan Office of Inspector General seven times,” said a joint statement from House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, and Republican Floor Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey. “Weeks into the legislative session and years late on fraud, they clearly aren’t serious about stopping fraudsters. It’s time for action, not more words and delays.”
Negotiations over how to mitigate fraud in Minnesota will likely continue to be tense in the divided legislature.
In the Minnesota State Senate, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party holds a slim majority by just one seat. DFL has 34 seats, compared to the Republicans’ 33. In the Minnesota State House, DFL and Republicans are tied – both holding exactly 67 seats.

Former President Bill Clinton said he had “no idea” of the crimes convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein committed.
The U.S. House Oversight Committee questioned Clinton over his ties to Epstein in a closed-door hearing on Friday in New York.
“I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing,” Clinton wrote in an opening statement posted to social media. “I saw nothing, and I did nothing wrong.”
Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chairman of the committee, said he plans to question former President Clinton on his inclusion in the Epstein files. He said Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane at least 27 times and Epstein was in the White House 17 times during Clinton’s presidency.
Comer also said he plans to ask about Clinton’s appearance in pictures released by the U.S. Department of Justice. Several photos released in the Epstein files show Clinton in close proximity with women whose faces are redacted.
“No matter how many photos you show me, I have two things that at the end of the day matter more than those 20-year old photos,” Clinton wrote in his opening statement.
Virginia Giuffre, a victim of Epstein, previously stated she saw and met former President Clinton on Little St. James, the island owned by Jeffrey Epstein.
Comer said Hillary Clinton deferred answers on at least a dozen questions to her husband during a deposition on Thursday. He said those questions, including Epstein’s ties to the Clinton’s charitable foundations, will be asked during Friday’s deposition.
“We had a big portfolio of questions for him, and that increased yesterday,” Comer said.
Hillary Clinton described the deposition as “repetitive” in a news conference on Thursday. Comer explained that many questions had to be raised due to apparent evidence in the Epstein files that Hillary Clinton had a relationship with Epstein.
“It may have seemed repetitive because there was a lot of documentation that would suggest that she had a relationship with Epstein,” Comer said.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., questioned whether Hillary Clinton was honest in her responses to questions during the deposition on Thursday. If an individual is found to knowingly make false statements before a congressional body in a deposition, they can be found guilty of perjury. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., described Hillary Clinton as “unhinged” during Thursday’s deposition.
“I hope that President Clinton is less unhinged today than his wife was yesterday,” Mace said.
House Democrats refuted Mace’s claim about Hillary Clinton’s behavior, calling it a “mischaracterization.”
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., pointed out that Hillary Clinton did not invoke the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination once during Thursday’s deposition. House Democrats called on President Trump to be subpoenaed over his knowledge and association with Jeffrey Epstein.
“Now we have the Clinton rule, which is that presidents and their families have to testify when Congress issues a subpoena, and that means that Donald Trump needs to come before our committee and explain what he knew about Epstein and explain why we have not had a full release of the documents,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
Clinton said he might not be able to recall all of the details in his relationship with Epstein. He also said he saw “nothing that ever gave me pause.”
“I’m not going to say something I’m not sure of. This was all a long time ago. And I am bound by my oath not to speculate, or to guess,” Clinton wrote. “This is not merely for my benefit, but because it doesn’t help you for me to play detective 24 years later.”
“As someone who grew up in a home with domestic abuse, not only would I not have flown on his plane if I had any inkling of what he was doing – I would have turned him in myself and led the call for justice for his crimes, not sweetheart deals.”

Signaling U.S. strikes against Iran could be imminent, the State Department is urging non-essential government employees and their families to leave Israel.
The State Department issued an authorized departure for non-emergency and family members of U.S. personnel from Mission Israel Friday morning, citing “safety risks.” The message added, “persons may wish to consider leaving Israel while commercial flights are available.”
The alert comes as multiple reports indicate American personnel are being evacuated from Iraq.
The departures come as the USS Gerald Ford and its strike group have been spotted near the coast of Israel.
In recent weeks, there has been a massive build-up of American military forces in the Middle East.
The latest developments come amid reports that talks between the U.S. and Iran regarding the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program have stalled.
During President Donald Trump’s State of the Union Address Tuesday night, he underscored the atrocities carried out by Iran as he is weighing another operation against the Islamic Republic.
The president warned that Iran has developed missiles “that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.”
Trump said he would prefer diplomacy, but “will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon.”
“I will never let the world’s number one sponsor of terror have a nuclear weapon,” the president vowed.

A federal appeals court will allow the Trump administration to end collective bargaining rights for thousands of government employees, in a blow for public-sector unions.
The Ninth Circuit panel’s decision allows the administration to proceed with an executive order that allows some federal agencies to cut union ties for national security reasons.
Six unions representing about 800,000 federal civilian employees sued the administration last year, alleging violations of the First Amendment. A lower court previously found that President Donald Trump’s order was designed to retaliate against unions. However, the Ninth Circuit panel ended that preliminary injunction.
The panel noted that Trump’s executive order, issued in March 2025, was “the largest single effort to date to exclude agencies and subdivisions from collective bargaining on national security grounds.”
The three judges considered only whether the lower court’s injunction should remain in place while the case continues. The panel did not determine if the Trump administration overstepped its legal authority.
“Today’s ruling is not a final decision on the legality of this Executive Order,” said Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees. “The court addressed only whether a preliminary injunction should remain in place while litigation continues. This case is not over. The merits of this case are still very much alive.”
Kelley said the unions are considering options and would “continue to build our case and pursue every legal avenue available.”
Some agencies had already moved ahead with plans to eliminate collective bargaining. For example, the Department of Veterans Affairs cancelled its contracts with most unions in August 2025. VA Secretary Doug Collins said the unions were working against veterans’ best interests.
VA officials said in 2024, more than 1,900 VA bargaining-unit employees worked more than 750,000 hours on taxpayer-funded union time.
“With no collective bargaining obligations, those hours can now be used to serve veterans instead of union bosses,” the agency said.
It also frees up space. Union representatives are currently using more than 187,000 square feet of VA’s office and clinical space.
“This has cost VA millions of dollars in lost rent and expenses for union bosses’ government phones and computer equipment,” the agency said.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani secured the release of a Columbia student detained by ICE after a surprise meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, where he also urged the president to support a long-stalled housing project in his hometown.
At Thursday’s Oval Office meeting, which wasn’t announced in advance, Mamdani reportedly urged Trump to back the city’s plans to build 12,000 new affordable homes on the site of an old rail yard in Queens by securing more than $21 billion in federal grants.
To win over the president, Mamdani also gifted Trump a mock New York Daily News front page with stories praising the Queens native as a “hometown hero” for providing federal funding for the long-stalled housing project. The banner headline read: “Trump to City” Let’s Build. Backs New Era of Housing.”
The mayor also presented Trump with a copy of the Daily News’ famous Oct. 30, 1975 “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD” front page, which lamented Democratic President Gerald Ford’s refusal to bail out New York City during the 1975 financial crisis.
“I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon,” Mamdani said in a post on social media that showed the two in the oval office displaying the mock newspapers. “I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City.”
I had a productive meeting with President Trump this afternoon.I’m looking forward to building more housing in New York City. pic.twitter.com/XnPbt0KXYU— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) February 26, 2026
After the meeting, Mamdani announced that he had secured the release of Elmina Aghayeva, a Columbia University student who had been detained by ICE earlier in the day. The mayor also reportedly gave White House staff a list of four other New York City students detained by ICE — Mahmoud Khalil, Yunseo Chung, Mohsen Mahdawi and Leqaa Kordia — in an effort to get them released.
Thursday’s surprise meeting was another turn in the unlikely ‘bromance’ between Trump and Mamdani, a democratic socialist the president previously threatened to deport. The two Queens men have developed a relationship despite their vast political differences.
Trump held a meeting at the White House about two weeks after Mamdani won the November election, and the two shocked observers by engaging in a cordial conversation and posting photos on social media of the two of them.
In the months ahead of the election, Trump labeled Mamdani a “communist” and warned of the ruin of his hometown, New York, if the 34-year-old former Queens assemblyman was elected. He also claimed Mamdani, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Uganda, was an “illegal alien” and threatened to withhold billions of dollars in federal funding from the city.
Mamdani, meanwhile, vowed on the campaign trail last year to “Trump proof” New York City as mayor, but has also softened his tone since winning City Hall and says he is interested in working with the president and other members of his administration to help New Yorkers.
During Tuesday’s State of the Union address, Trump called Mamdani a “nice guy” but criticized his administration for requiring two forms of ID and a Social Security card to get paid by the city for an emergency snow-shoveling program, while rejecting a plan to require ID to vote.
“The new communist mayor of New York City, I think he’s a nice guy, actually” Trump said in Tuesday’s speech at the Capitol. “I speak to him a lot. Bad policy, but nice guy.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul is demanding the Trump administration refund New York $13.5 billion in tariff payments following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week.
In a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, called on the federal agency to “immediately formulate and implement a plan to refund all tariff proceeds” in response to the court’s ruling striking down most of President Donald Trump’s global tariffs as “unlawful” following a legal challenge from states and businesses.
“Having unlawfully seized billions of dollars from American people and businesses, the federal government should now do the right thing: give it back,” Hochul,a Democrat, said in a statement.
The average New York household was saddled with an average $1,751 in added costs — or $13.5 billion statewide — due to the president’s tariffs since they were enacted last year, Hochul wrote, citing estimates by Yale University’s Budget Lab.
New Yorkers have felt the consequences of the president’s tariffs “ripple through every sector of our economy,” Hochul wrote. Consumers “paid dramatically more for everyday goods” she said, while small businesses “faced increased supply and equipment costs.”
“Our state’s farming industry has taken a particular hit, with farmers reporting an added layer of uncertainty that makes planning and future investment challenging,” Hochul wrote.
Trump’s tariffs were challenged by a group of states, including New York and California, along with small business owners, who argued that the president exceeded his authority by imposing them.
In a 6-3 ruling the Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the International Emergency Economic Powers Act — a 1970s law that the Trump administration invoked — doesn’t authorize the president to impose sweeping, open-ended tariffs.
In the ruling, the court’s majority didn’t spell out a process for refunds but the decision that Trump’s approach was “illegal” has opened the door to claims from importers that lost more than $133 billion in duties collected from the tariffs.
On Tuesday, Federal Express sued the federal government, seeking a “full refund” of the money the shipping giant paid for tariffs, in the first of likey many such legal challenges to recoup lost revenue. Other large corporations and labor unions filed lawsuits against the Trump administration seeking refunds before the Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs are illegal.
New York has joined several other states, including California, in demanding a full refund for consumers and businesses who saw higher costs as a result of the tariffs.
“Millions of New Yorkers are owed a refund for the real and widespread consequences of President Trump’s reckless and illegal tariff policy,” Hochul wrote in her letter. “Compensation is owed to the people of New York, and New Yorkers look forward to receiving our payout in full.”