# UChicago Student Files Senate Ethics Complaint Against Slotkin Over 'Deterrence Message' Aimed at Young Trump Administration Hires

Michael Bicksel, the student who first reported her remarks, asks the Senate Ethics Committee to look at what Sen. Elissa Slotkin said Oct. 13. Slotkin calls the backlash 'manufactured outrage.'

- Section: [Politics](https://rightnewsrightnow.com/politics/)
- Published: 2026-10-23
- By: RightNewsRightNow Staff
- Canonical page: https://rightnewsrightnow.com/articles/slotkin-ethics-complaint-chicago-student-bicksel-deterrence-message-trump-jobs/

A college student has taken a Michigan senator's viral comments to the Senate Ethics Committee. Fox News, which had the story first, reports that the complaint was filed Thursday against Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat.

The remarks. At an Oct. 13 event at the University of Chicago, Slotkin said she wants to pursue "signature cases" against people who "enabled" President Trump and to send a "deterrence message" to young people. In her words, she wants graduates to ask whether working for the Trump administration is worth it and to conclude that it "might be buying myself a ton of problems that I don't want." A clip of the exchange spread widely.

The complaint. It was filed by Michael Bicksel, a University of Chicago student and a conservative who first reported what Slotkin said. He argues she proposed using congressional investigations and possible prosecutions to scare young people away from serving in a Republican administration. He asks the committee to decide whether her comments amount to "improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate," a standard in the Senate Ethics Manual that can apply even when no specific law or rule is broken.

Bicksel rejects the idea that she was only talking about people who break the law. "Those who commit crimes should be punished for doing so," he wrote. "All we are debating is public service, pure and simple."

Her response. Asked about it on CNN, Slotkin called the reaction "manufactured outrage." She said Republican interns and staffers have told her they are worried about how messy politics has become. In a statement earlier in the week, she accused the president of weaponizing the justice system against her and said the pushback is meant to distract from gas prices and the war with Iran.

Fox also reports, citing the Washington Examiner, that the Justice Department is facing calls to investigate her remarks. We have not seen any sign that it has opened a case.

Keep in mind that an ethics complaint is a request for review. The committee has not said whether it will take it up.

## Source

Original reporting: [Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/slotkins-viral-threat-conservatives-takes-new-twist-student-moves-hold-her-accountable-shocking)