Restore Roe v. Wade's abortion rights nationwide in federal law
Protect abortion rights and access
“Together, we’ll fight to protect abortion rights, preserve access to contraception and IVF, and defend the reproductive freedom of every Michigander.”
Lower health care costs, including premiums and out-of-pocket costs
Pass Medicare for All
Protect patients from medical debt
“This endorsement affirms Abdul’s commitment to the Working Families Guarantee, a policy platform that seeks to create a more affordable and dignified America for the working class. It includes a commitment to more affordable housing and healthcare, creating a national program to help workers find union jobs, guaranteed low-cost childcare, and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave – achievable by taxing the ultra-wealthy and eliminating big money in our politics.”
“End all cost-sharing. Premiums, deductibles, and co-pays are eliminated for Medicare beneficiaries. The program provides first-dollar coverage. No senior should be rationing medication or avoiding care because of a deductible.”
“Close the gap. The supplemental insurance market for Medicare forces seniors to pay an additional $2,000 per year in premiums. It’s a direct consequence of Medicare’s coverage gaps. Comprehensive coverage makes it unnecessary. Eliminating it removes an entire cost burden from seniors on fixed incomes.”
Extend Medicare's negotiated drug prices to private insurance
Lower insulin costs, such as with a $35 monthly cap
Bring cheaper generic drugs to market sooner
Rein in pharmacy benefit managers
“The “Ban the Middleman” Act would eliminate the PBM industry and replace it with a transparent and patient centered system to lower costs on the prescriptions that Americans rely on.”
“Expand Medicare drug price negotiation powers: Expand CMS drug price negotiation authority under the Inflation Reduction Act to cover all drugs paid for by Medicare, rather than the limited number currently permitted.”
“In 2020, he was selected to serve on President Biden’s Unity Task Force for Healthcare, helping craft policies that are lowering prescription drug prices today.”
“I support expanding that law to empower Medicare to negotiate prices for every single prescription drug, negotiate prices far earlier after drugs hit the market, and extend the ability to negotiate prices to all patients, not just those on Medicare.”
Expand Medicare, such as to cover dental, vision and hearing
Lower Medicare premiums, copays and other out-of-pocket costs
Pass Medicare for All
Keep Medicare public and oppose privatizing it
“The AAA Plan would eliminate cost-sharing for Medicare beneficiaries, lift the Social Security payroll tax cap, and provide a federal framework for state-level property tax freezes that allow seniors to age in place and with dignity.”
“End all cost-sharing. Premiums, deductibles, and co-pays are eliminated for Medicare beneficiaries. The program provides first-dollar coverage. No senior should be rationing medication or avoiding care because of a deductible.”
“Close the gap. The supplemental insurance market for Medicare forces seniors to pay an additional $2,000 per year in premiums. It’s a direct consequence of Medicare’s coverage gaps. Comprehensive coverage makes it unnecessary. Eliminating it removes an entire cost burden from seniors on fixed incomes.”
“Expand coverage for vision, dental, and hearing. These are not secondary benefits. Untreated hearing loss is among the leading risk factors for dementia. Dental disease can cause cardiovascular disease. Vision loss is the leading cause of preventable falls. No logical healthcare system arbitrarily decides these items are not part of essential coverage. Covering all three is not generosity, it’s good healthcare policy that saves seniors and saves money.”
“I will fight to expand Medicare to cover all necessary healthcare, including vision, dental, and hearing, and extend it to every single American from cradle to grave without premiums, copays, or deductibles.”
Pass Medicare for All or another single-payer plan
Expand coverage to more people, including through the ACA and Medicaid
Keep private insurance as a choice
Cover dental, vision and hearing care in Medicare
“Abdul is fighting for an economy that works for everyone, healthcare for all, affordable housing, quality education, clean air and water, and sensible foreign policy.”
“But it’s not enough to erase debt–we have to protect Americans from accruing it in the first place. That means guaranteeing every American healthcare through Medicare for All”
“I look forward to working alongside him and other champions in the Senate to make Medicare for All a reality and finally alleviate the pain our system causes.”
“To ensure moms and babies get the care they need beyond infancy, we must guarantee comprehensive, guaranteed health insurance for every American through Medicare for All.”
“Guaranteeing healthcare for every American through Medicare for All, freeing unions and their members to choose between bargaining for higher wages or add-on health insurance.”
“Empowering unions and their members to choose between the guaranteed public health insurance or private options while ensuring public coverage for every union member.”
“Medicare for All – Fight to guarantee every single American cradle-to-grave health insurance without networks, premiums, co-pays, or deductibles. End discrimination against patients based on their insurance.”
“Make coverage and care permanent – Pass Medicare for All to guarantee every single mother and baby dignified healthcare without premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, and also include coverage for doulas and midwives. At a minimum, lock in 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage nationwide, expand Medicaid reimbursement for doulas and midwives, and fund community-based programs like Healthy Start and home-visiting services (MIECHV) nationwide.”
“I will fight to expand Medicare to cover all necessary healthcare, including vision, dental, and hearing, and extend it to every single American from cradle to grave without premiums, copays, or deductibles.”
Raise Medicaid payment rates for health care providers
Expand Medicaid home and community-based care
“Yet Medicaid home and community-based services are chronically underfunded, leaving hundreds of thousands of eligible seniors on waiting lists while institutional care remains the default option the system is built to pay for. We must fix this.”
“Federal investment in home and community-based services (HCBS). Increase the federal Medicaid matching rate for home health and personal care services, incentivizing states to expand eligibility, reduce waiting lists, and improve caregiver wages — addressing both access and the workforce shortage that limits capacity.”
“End the institutional bias in long-term care financing. Current Medicaid rules make it easier to fund a nursing home bed than a home health aide. This platform directs CMS to revise reimbursement structures so that home and community-based care is funded on equal footing with institutional alternatives, giving seniors and their families a genuine choice.”
“Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies: Locking in 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage, expanding Medicaid reimbursement for doulas and midwives, and expanding the RxKids program nationally.”
“Strengthen the safety net – Secure multi-year Community Health Center Fund reauthorization so Federally Qualified Health Centers can plan and hire beyond a year at a time, and establish Medicaid reimbursement parity for community health workers and patient navigators. Adjust rules to enable cities and counties to build, better partner with, and administer Federally Qualified Health Centers.”
“Make coverage and care permanent – Pass Medicare for All to guarantee every single mother and baby dignified healthcare without premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, and also include coverage for doulas and midwives. At a minimum, lock in 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage nationwide, expand Medicaid reimbursement for doulas and midwives, and fund community-based programs like Healthy Start and home-visiting services (MIECHV) nationwide.”
Help older and disabled people get care at home and in their communities
Protect and expand Medicaid funding for long-term care
Support family members who care for aging or disabled relatives
Raise care workers' pay and grow the care workforce
“Yet Medicaid home and community-based services are chronically underfunded, leaving hundreds of thousands of eligible seniors on waiting lists while institutional care remains the default option the system is built to pay for. We must fix this.”
“Federal investment in home and community-based services (HCBS). Increase the federal Medicaid matching rate for home health and personal care services, incentivizing states to expand eligibility, reduce waiting lists, and improve caregiver wages — addressing both access and the workforce shortage that limits capacity.”
“End the institutional bias in long-term care financing. Current Medicaid rules make it easier to fund a nursing home bed than a home health aide. This platform directs CMS to revise reimbursement structures so that home and community-based care is funded on equal footing with institutional alternatives, giving seniors and their families a genuine choice.”
“Support family caregivers who are already doing the work. Millions of family members provide unpaid care that delays or prevents costlier interventions. A federal caregiver tax credit and access to respite care services recognizes that contribution and helps sustain it—keeping seniors at home longer without burning out the people who make it possible.”
“We are being nickeled and dimed by corporations who exist specifically to hold our healthcare dollars and pay out as little as possible. We can do so much better than that. The amount of money that you end up paying under Medicare for All is substantially lower.”
“Together, we’ll fight to protect abortion rights, preserve access to contraception and IVF, and defend the reproductive freedom of every Michigander.”
Close disparities in maternal health, including racial gaps
Protect and expand access to prenatal and postpartum care
Expand access to midwives and doulas
Invest in maternal health
Track and publicly report maternal health outcomes
“Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies: Locking in 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage, expanding Medicaid reimbursement for doulas and midwives, and expanding the RxKids program nationally.”
“Make coverage and care permanent – Pass Medicare for All to guarantee every single mother and baby dignified healthcare without premiums, co-pays, and deductibles, and also include coverage for doulas and midwives. At a minimum, lock in 12-month postpartum Medicaid coverage nationwide, expand Medicaid reimbursement for doulas and midwives, and fund community-based programs like Healthy Start and home-visiting services (MIECHV) nationwide.”
“Support the whole family and track results – Strengthen and simplify WIC enrollment, pair maternal health investment with safe, stable housing support for pregnant and postpartum families, and direct Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant dollars specifically toward closing Black maternal mortality disparities, with public reporting by race and county.”
Keep people from going into debt or bankrupt over medical bills
Cancel existing medical debt
Prevent medical debt by guaranteeing health coverage
“As a two-time public health official, Abdul has worked to open the system for those who have been locked out, from jumpstarting a program to eliminate $700 million in medical debt to providing tens of thousands of kids free pairs of glasses.”
“We can eliminate America’s staggering $225 billion in medical debt for pennies on the dollar. We did it for all of Wayne County when I was health director. And if Michigan’s largest county can do it–so can the rest of the country.”
“But it’s not enough to erase debt–we have to protect Americans from accruing it in the first place. That means guaranteeing every American healthcare through Medicare for All”
“These taxes should support better pay for teachers, healthcare expansion through Medicare for All, direct cash transfers, capping childcare costs, eliminating medical debt and other domestic priorities.”
“The Undue Medical Debt Relief Program was a signature accomplishment of Abdul’s in Wayne County government. To date, it has eliminated nearly $60 million in medical debt for more than 80,000 residents and is on track to erase $700 million in medical debt for more than 300,000 Wayne County residents.”
“As a public health official, Abdul erased tens of millions of dollars in medical debt for tens of thousands of Michiganders and delivered free glasses to thousands of kids”
“As a nation, Americans hold more than $225 billion in medical debt. I think it shouldn’t exist–and I erased it for tens of thousands of Michiganders in Wayne County.”
“Federal investment in home and community-based services (HCBS). Increase the federal Medicaid matching rate for home health and personal care services, incentivizing states to expand eligibility, reduce waiting lists, and improve caregiver wages — addressing both access and the workforce shortage that limits capacity.”
Reform prior authorization and insurer reviews of care
Bar AI from deciding whether patients get care
Let patients appeal denials to a physician or independent review
“AI No-Gos: AI may not deny medical care, autonomously fire weapons, conduct warrantless surveillance, replace human oversight in life-or-death decisions, or make hiring or firing decisions.”
“Ban AI-based prior authorization. Automated denial systems are overriding physician judgment at scale, delaying or denying healthcare your doctor said you need. No algorithm should be able to deny care that a licensed physician has determined is necessary. Prior authorization decisions must be made by a licensed physician with full access to the patient’s record and subject to binding physician-to-physician review on appeal.”
“AI shouldn’t be able to deny you healthcare. It shouldn’t be able to deny you a job. It shouldn’t be able to fire you. It shouldn’t be able to fire a weapon. There are things that we should not be using AI to do, and we collectively have to decide that we need public oversight so that all of this technology is not being created for the interests of a few against the well-being of the many.”
Make naloxone and other overdose prevention widely available
“Abdul spearheaded an initiative to combat the opioid crisis by making life-saving naloxone more widely available, and under his leadership, overdose deaths in Wayne County decreased 42% in 2024.”
“As a public servant, Abdul secured free glasses for kids who needed them, removed lead from Detroit’s elementary schools, took on Michigan’s biggest polluters, and made life-saving Narcan universally accessible.”
“For too long PBMs have inserted themselves between patients and the medications they need to survive, operating behind the scenes in an already complicated system to drive up costs”
“Medicare was designed as a comprehensive guarantee. Through decades of cost-sharing requirements, benefit exclusions, and privatization, it’s become a patchwork that forces seniors into thousands of dollars of out-of-pocket expenses before meaningful coverage kicks in, and into a supplemental insurance market that exists only because Medicare itself has been purposely kept inadequate.”
“Health & Access to Care: Fighting for Medicare for All, securing multi-year Community Health Center funding, and expanding telehealth and food access in underserved neighborhoods.”
“So what would Medicare for all do? Rather than this situation in which you have an insurance company that is profit-motivated managing a lot of this transaction, you have one payer, who is the federal government.”
“Close food deserts and expand telehealth – Expand Healthy Food Financing Initiative grants to bring full-service grocery access into underserved neighborhoods, and make telehealth reimbursement permanent so care isn’t limited by transportation or provider shortages.”
“So the idea to me that, somehow, we’re going to have to have a mediocre healthcare system when we are the richest, most powerful, most capable country in the world, that is a choice that we make. And it is a choice that we make to allow the CEO’s of healthcare corporations to eat first rather than to provide us the healthcare we need and deserve in this country.”
“He rebuilt Detroit’s Health Department after bankruptcy. Then he restructured Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services, serving 1.8 million Michiganders in the state’s largest and most diverse county.”
“Recognized nationwide as an expert on improving the American healthcare system, Abdul authored Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide, which explains how to build a healthcare system that guarantees high-quality, affordable healthcare for every American.”
“Medicare for All does not have to ban additional private insurance through unions or employers, although Medicare for All should make those choices redundant and unnecessary.”
“I oppose the hospital mergers and acquisitions that are leaving Americans with fewer healthcare choices and nurses, hospital workers, and doctors with less power at their workplace.”
“Appointments to critical leadership roles such as CDC Director, FDA Commissioner, and NIH Director should be similar to those for the FBI Director and Federal Reserve: they should be fixed-term appointments that cannot be removed except under specific circumstances.”
“Further, any and all appointments to critical public health bodies, such as the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, should be made with the expressed consent of the Senate to protect their integrity.”
“Rather than gut critical institutions like the CDC, FDA, and Health Resources & Services Administration, I believe in reinvesting and reforming them so that they are better fit for the 21st century.”
“Further, I oppose any effort to criminalize certain medications and the use of lawfare or funding cuts to stop healthcare providers from providing full-spectrum healthcare that meet all the needs of their diverse communities.”
“I believe that healthcare decisions should always stay between an individual and their doctor. And I believe that the government cannot and should not interfere with the right to pursue healthcare choices.”
“And healthcare providers should be protected from undue coercion by the government to provide data or to provide, or not provide, healthcare they deem necessary for their patients.”
Set binding safety rules for the most powerful AI models
Give a federal agency the power and expertise to oversee AI safety
Hold AI companies accountable for the harms they cause
Seek international agreements on AI safety
Keep states' power to regulate AI
Protect children from AI harms
Protect privacy and limit AI surveillance
Protect creators and the public from AI copying and deepfakes
Put frontier AI companies under public ownership and control
Protect AI whistleblowers
Limit AI's use in critical decisions like hiring, lending and health care
Control access to advanced AI chips
“Today, U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed announced AI Under Democracy, a comprehensive AI policy platform that would bring the emerging technology into the hands of the people through democratic ownership and governance while ensuring responsible use.”
“This kind of technology will be transformative for humanity with potential for incredible strides in health and research, but it must be strictly regulated to protect American jobs and maintain trust amongst deepfakes and misinformation.”
“Earlier this year, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act to transfer 50% equity from the largest AI companies into public hands. The El-Sayed campaign proposes to take that one step further to give Americans a seat at the table to determine the future of this transformational technology, protect American jobs, and establish guardrails to keep us safe and ultimately benefit everyone, not just tech CEOs.”
“Abdul is the only candidate in the Michigan Senate race to support public ownership of AI, and one of the only U.S. Senate candidates to do so nationwide. Notably, he is the first to propose public control of AI.”
“Now, we’re putting forward a plan to bring AI Under Democracy – guardrails and a roadmap for AI development with one goal in mind: to bring the most powerful technology in human history under human democratic control.”
“Mandatory Public Benefit Charters: All frontier AI labs must be chartered as public benefit corporations, legally bound to balance public interest against profit.”
“Democratic Board Control: 50%+1 of board seats at frontier AI companies must be publicly appointed or democratically elected, not chosen by shareholders.”
“AI was built on our data and our labor; we should own a piece of it. Senator Bernie Sanders’s American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would transfer 50% equity from the largest AI companies into public hands. I support that effort and propose to take it one step further because Americans deserve a seat at the table.”
“Mandatory Interpretability Standards: It’s not enough to know what the AI said if we can’t understand why it said it. We need mandatory interpretability standards that clarify AI decisionmaking.”
“Biosecurity Requirements: Mandatory biosecurity red-teaming, coordinated with the CDC, NIH, and FEMA, with restrictions on models that meaningfully assist bioweapons development.”
“Self-acceleration Guardrails: AI used to build or improve other AI must face the same safety review as the models it produces. And limits must be placed on the capacity for agents to produce other agents.”
“Compute Controls and “Know Your Customer” Requirements: We don’t sell nuclear centrifuges without knowing the buyer. Similarly, chip access must be regulated and traceable on national and international markets.”
“AI No-Gos: AI may not deny medical care, autonomously fire weapons, conduct warrantless surveillance, replace human oversight in life-or-death decisions, or make hiring or firing decisions.”
“International Cooperation: We must re-engage the Bletchley framework and global AI Safety Institute network to advocate for a binding compute-threshold treaty with”
“This cannot continue to be a race to the bottom as the richest people in society make robots that could ultimately end humanity, as they’re now talking about, while the rest of us have to deal with these hulking data centers in our backyard raising our utility rates and destroying our water. We can do better, it means regulation, and we needed that regulation yesterday, so the best we can do is tomorrow.”
“[We] are seeing the pace of technological development outpace the pace of safety. If you had public oversight over this, in the form of democratically elected or appointed members of at least 50% of all of these public trust corporations, you would imagine that they’d act far more focused on what is in the public good rather than what is for the private benefit of a few billionaires.”
“AI shouldn’t be able to deny you healthcare. It shouldn’t be able to deny you a job. It shouldn’t be able to fire you. It shouldn’t be able to fire a weapon. There are things that we should not be using AI to do, and we collectively have to decide that we need public oversight so that all of this technology is not being created for the interests of a few against the well-being of the many.”
“We need to act, and we need to act now. So, we’ve also been calling for a pause on any of this frontier AI research until we can assure that this is being done safely.”
“At an absolute minimum, I’m calling for a pause in AI frontier development. We need to put an end to any further AI development until we have guardrails in place that ensure all risks to human safety are eliminated.”
“Chartering all frontier AI companies as public benefit corporations with the majority of board members being democratically appointed, not chosen by shareholders”
“Divesting all frontier AI labs from the Big Tech giants like Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft. I called for public ownership—with 50% of equity owned by the American people—and an AI dividend.”
“Implementing AI No-Gos that ban denying medical care, autonomously firing weapons, conducting warrantless surveillance, or replacing human oversight in life-or-death decisions.”
“Pause Frontier AI Now: There’s no greater marker of how broken our political system is than how this has somehow not happened yet. Freeze the training and release of the most powerful AI systems until real safety rules and enforcement exists. Independent scientists must certify safety before the pause lifts, and new AI data centers wait too.”
“Completely Ban Artificial Superintelligence or Recursive Self-Improvement: Permanently prohibit any AI that outthinks humans across most tasks or could escape human control. Toward that end, we need to address the risk that this happens without our knowing it. That means banning recursive self-improvement, the process by which AI itself takes control of AI frontier research, creating a self-reinforcing doom loop that leads down the path of superintelligence. We also need to heed the blinking red lights: AI resisting shutdown, deceiving human overseers, or helping build weapons of mass destruction. Funding, hoarding or releasing such systems should be barred, and developers must prove their AI is safe, just like the government does for nuclear weapons or new drugs.”
“Give Us an AI Kill Switch: Developers must be able to slow, suspend, or shut down their most powerful systems, and cloud and data-center operators must cut access on a lawful order. Bipartisan legislation already backs part of this. There must be regular drills to prove it works, allowing regulators to protect Americans from dangerous AI systems gone rogue.”
“A Cabinet-Level, Independent AI Safety Agency: One agency with the power to inspect labs, block releases, and order a pause or command a shutdown, built to stand up to any billionaire. Danger found in testing should trigger action automatically, any exemption should be made public, a scientific board should be chosen outside the agency to manage its governance, and industry fees should fund it. Its officials should never be allowed to cash in on the companies they regulate.”
“Mandatory Breach Reporting: Whenever an AI system escapes its test environment, gains access it was never given, or deceives its testers, the developer must be required to alert the government within 24 hours, and the public must get a summary. Regulators should receive the full logs, which no one should be able to delete, and hiding a breach should be a crime. To make breaches rare, frontier models must be built and tested on physically isolated, air-gapped systems, with independent teams trying to break them out first, and internal use should count as model release.”
“Severe Criminal Penalties for Corporate AI Abuse: Executives who recklessly break the rules should face criminal penalties with possible prison time. Companies should face the loss of their charters and assets. Lying to regulators should be a crime, executives must sign safety reports under penalty of perjury, and hiding a danger or retaliating against a whistleblower should carry real penalties too.”
“International Public Cooperation and Governance Boards: We should negotiate a US-China treaty to pause and ban superintelligence, modeled on the Cold War deal in which Reagan and Gorbachev eliminated a class of nuclear missiles through inspections. A verification board would count chips and data centers, a scientific panel would share threat assessments, and a 24-hour hotline would flag incidents. Access to American chips and cloud services should be conditioned on signing and complying, and we should tighten chip export controls now.”
“No AI in Nuclear Command and Control: Humans, and only humans, should decide whether to use nuclear weapons. That is already US policy: Biden and Xi agreed to it in 2024. We must make it permanent, cover early warning and decision support, keep frontier AI out of the chain, and get every nuclear nation to sign on.”
“Abdul’s plan also calls for creating AI whistleblower protections, implementing a national AI safety emergency plan, and requiring mandatory breach auditing of all AI systems.”
“Further, the speed and lack of transparency with which these technologies are being developed opens the door to serious risks that powerful AI may fall into the wrong hands or escape human control altogether. That’s why I support legislation to create guardrails around when, how, and for what purposes AI is deployed.”
“And to address the security risks, I believe we must develop clear “rules of the road” for AI development that governs which hands this technology falls into and requires us to better test and understand the models being developed.”
“This includes clear safety testing standards for frontier models; liability and incident reporting standards; compute controls, including “know your customer” requirements for compute providers; and the creation of an independent technical agency with real enforcement power, like to the Food & Drug Administration, for AI.”
Invest public money in research and new technology industries
Make chips and other critical goods in America
Keep advanced chips and American investment out of adversaries' hands
Protect American technology and inventions from theft
Set rules so AI is developed safely as the U.S. leads
Cooperate with China on AI limits rather than race
“Compute Controls and “Know Your Customer” Requirements: We don’t sell nuclear centrifuges without knowing the buyer. Similarly, chip access must be regulated and traceable on national and international markets.”
“International Public Cooperation and Governance Boards: We should negotiate a US-China treaty to pause and ban superintelligence, modeled on the Cold War deal in which Reagan and Gorbachev eliminated a class of nuclear missiles through inspections. A verification board would count chips and data centers, a scientific panel would share threat assessments, and a 24-hour hotline would flag incidents. Access to American chips and cloud services should be conditioned on signing and complying, and we should tighten chip export controls now.”
“I believe in bringing dignified, well-paying jobs to Michigan. That means investing in the research, development, and growth of the technologies of the future while using tools like tariffs in a steady, thoughtful, and targeted way to protect them as they grow.”
“While we must insist that China play by the rules when it comes to trade and intellectual property, we must also recognize that our shared futures are better when we cooperate with each other for the benefit of all of our people, rather than compete in a zero-sum arms race that makes all of us less safe.”
“The future of Taiwan should be a matter for the Taiwanese to choose through democratic means. But in recognition of the possible risks, we must continue to onshore critical national security assets, such as chip manufacturing.”
Other things the site says about science, technology and communications (28)
“AI isn’t just any another tool. Even today, it holds the capacity to destroy our jobs, deny our healthcare, and surveil us. That power can’t sit solely within the control of a few billionaires”
“Big Tech is teaching machines to write, reason, diagnose, create, and decide. That means that a handful of billionaire-backed labs are shaping the future of work, of democracy, of our own safety. And they’re doing it all behind closed doors, accountable to no one but their billionaire investors.”
“AI was built off us. It should work for us, not against us. Americans deserve clarity, control, and a say in how this transformative technology will shape our world.”
““First, Do No Harm” Governance: Charters must enshrine this as an operating standard. Profit cannot come at the cost of public safety, civil rights, or democratic integrity.”
“Mandatory Divestiture: Companies developing frontier AI must operate independently of major platform tech companies. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta must divest controlling interests within a defined transition period.”
“Mandatory Incident Reporting: There must be a clear mechanism for reporting AI harms to regulators the way pharmaceutical adverse events are reported.”
“I think it’s important for us to really hit pause, hit pause in a serious way, and fully understand what it is that is being built when it has so much potential spillover into irreversible damage for humanity”
“AI is the single most consequential technology humanity has ever created. It has the opportunity to address some of our most pressing challenges, but it also carries the ability to destroy us economically, socially, and politically. And we cannot just sit back and ignore the risks.”
“The slew of troubling, dangerous AI security breaches and hacks—most notably the OpenAI Hugging Face breach, the recent news that another OpenAI mishap resulted in rogue AI agents meddling with Department of Education, Commerce, and S.E.C. websites, and a separate incident where agents hacked the Australian Government’s public health system—demonstrate the urgent need for an AI policy framework to protect us from these out of control models and the financial incentives of their billionaire creators.”
“The answer to what is stopping rogue AI agents from triggering a global nuclear crisis or deploying bioweapons cannot be the whims of a few billionaires in California.”
“Today, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is releasing his proposal to get AI Under Control to combat the growing existential risks of unrestrained artificial intelligence to humanity.”
“Right now, the whims of a few tech billionaires are the only thing stopping AI from developing to the point that it poses an existential threat to humanity. That is unacceptable. It’s time to get AI Under Control.”
“Research and development are among America’s most important assets. Rather than gut critical research agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health and pull back from funding research laboratories in universities across America, I believe that our future requires us to invest more and faster.”
Cap or remove tariffs on farm inputs like fertilizer and equipment
Open and expand markets for American farm products
Limit foreign imports that undercut American farmers
Give farmers aid for losses from tariffs and trade disruptions
Expand biofuels like E15 to create markets for crops
“Abdul will fight back against Donald Trump’s illegal trade wars and work to refund farmers for the costs his devastating tariffs have inflicted on farms across the state.”
“He will support the Tariff Free Farming Act, which would cap tariffs on seed, fertilizer, feed, fuel, machinery, and other farm inputs at their January 2025 levels, even under emergency trade powers.”
“Abdul will fight for federal incentives to invest in biofuels, including sustainable aviation fuels, to give Michigan family farmers more domestic markets for their products in the face of Donald Trump’s trade wars that have eliminated export markets.”
“Unlike the reckless blanket tariffs that raise farmers’ costs and invite retaliation, I’ll focus duties squarely at the foreign producers who dump below-cost goods into our markets and undercut Michigan farmers who play by the rules.”
Other things the site says about agriculture and food (17)
“For far too long, corporations have prioritized profit over food safety, pushing toxic, ultra-processed food onto the market and driving up rates of cancer and chronic disease.”
“Our broken politics has put the interests of corporations, monopolies, and billionaires over the interests of our rural communities for far too long. That ends when I get to the United States Senate. Michigan farmers will always have their U.S. Senator in their corner as we fight together for better opportunities and lower costs.”
“Michigan farmers should be able to fix their own equipment. Instead, manufacturers like John Deere force them to wait for expensive dealer service, sometimes weeks, in the middle of planting or harvest seasons.”
“Abdul will champion a federal right-to-repair law, building on the bipartisan-minded Freedom for Agricultural Repair and Maintenance (FARM) Act, requiring manufacturers to sell the manuals, parts, software, and tools needed to diagnose and repair equipment to farmers and independent repair shops at fair prices.”
“Abdul supports passage of the bipartisan Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act, which would create a team at USDA with subpoena power to investigate anticompetitive meatpacking practices and coordinate with the DOJ and the FTC.”
“Farmers shouldn’t need a lawyer or have to spend a weekend doing paperwork to get a loan or sign up for a program. Abdul will fight to simplify USDA applications, cut duplicative paperwork, provide plain-language guidance, and make it easy to apply online, so farmers spend their time farming and not filling out forms.”
“He will support the bipartisan USDA Express Loan Act, which would create a simplified short-form application and faster decisions on guaranteed farm ownership and operating loans, getting farmers answers when they need to buy seed, equipment, or land.”
“Abdul will invest in local and regional food systems to open up new market opportunities for farmers and expand access to healthy food, including boosting value-added processing, promoting farm-to-school, and expanding independent meat processing infrastructure.”
“For every farmer under 35, there are four who are 65 or older. Abdul will pass the bipartisan Increasing Land Access, Security, and Opportunities Act to permanently fund help with down payments, succession planning, and clear land titles for beginning farmers.”
“He will expand low-interest USDA loans and down payment assistance for new farmers, and fight to keep large corporate and investor buyers from outbidding families for farmland.”
“Abdul’s new Farmers Over Billionaires platform lays out the legislation he will champion on day one to deliver better opportunities and lower costs for Michigan farmers.”
“Federal farm subsidies funnel money to massive corn and soy operations while family farmers go broke and the crops that define Michigan farming struggle. I’ll fight to redirect federal farm subsidies away from corporate agribusiness and toward the family farmers who need them.”
“I aim to cap individual subsidy payments at $250,000 per year and reinvest those dollars into specialty crops, diversified agriculture, and regenerative farming that builds long-term food security and rural prosperity.”
“And I’ll champion a federal right-to-repair law because a family farmer in Leelanau County shouldn’t have to wait two weeks and pay dealer prices just to fix the tractor sitting in their field at harvest time.”
“That means codifying the Endangerment Finding into law, so no future administration can strip the EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases by executive order.”
“Abdul is fighting for an economy that works for everyone, healthcare for all, affordable housing, quality education, clean air and water, and sensible foreign policy.”
“I support shutting down Line 5, which is putting our Great Lakes at risk and has the potential to destroy sensitive environmental and tribal sites. In the meantime, we need to make the line safer so long as proper care is taken not to disrupt the line itself or destroy sensitive environmental or tribal sites.”
Hold polluters accountable and enforce environmental laws
Make polluters pay for cleanup and the harm they cause
Let people and governments sue polluters for damages
Restore the EPA's funding and authority
“Accountability for polluters, not immunity – oppose liability shields that protect agrochemical and PFAS manufacturers from consequences after they cause harm.”
“Michigan farmers shouldn’t pay the price for environmental contamination they didn’t cause. Abdul will fight for federal funding to test affected farms, compensate farmers for lost income, and hold polluters responsible.”
“As a public servant, Abdul secured free glasses for kids who needed them, removed lead from Detroit’s elementary schools, took on Michigan’s biggest polluters, and made life-saving Narcan universally accessible.”
“As senator, I’ll fight to hold corporate polluters fully accountable for contaminating Michigan’s land, air, and water and to empower federal agencies to stop them before they cause harm in the first place.”
“That means codifying the Endangerment Finding into law, so no future administration can strip the EPA of its authority to regulate greenhouse gases by executive order.”
“I’ll hold polluters fully accountable for the PFAS contamination they’ve left behind in our soil, our water, and our bodies and ensure that corporate farms taking federal dollars are held accountable for the agricultural runoff poisoning our rivers, our lakes, and our neighbors’ wells.”
Replace lead pipes and get lead out of drinking water
Keep, strengthen and enforce drinking water safety rules
Clean up PFAS and other chemicals in drinking water
Test drinking water and make the results public
Invest in repairing and upgrading water systems
Keep household water affordable and stop shutoffs
“After working with Dr. Mona to help rewrite the state’s lead contamination laws after the Flint water crisis, he teamed up with her as Wayne County’s leading health official to expand Rx Kids in Wayne County.”
“Environmental Justice & Clean Water: Accelerating lead service line replacement, expanding PFAS remediation, and guaranteeing 50 gallons of clean water per person per day with bills capped at 2% of household income.”
“Fix the water – Enforce full lead service line replacement well ahead of the EPA’s 2037 backstop, with priority funding for communities that can’t cover local match requirements, and expand PFAS remediation dollars for affected municipal water systems with mandatory public disclosure of test results by zip code. Guarantee 50 gallons of clean water per person per day (the basic minimum needed to drink, cook, and bathe) with water bills capped at 2% of household income and ironclad protections against shutoffs for families who can’t afford to pay.”
“I don’t care if you’re a black child in the city of Detroit or a brown child growing up in Dearborn or a white child growing up in Escanaba, what you deserve is to get an amazing education. What you deserve is to breathe clean air, drink clean water.”
“I’ll fight for a federal water guarantee that every family has access to at least 50 gallons of clean water per person per day (the basic minimum needed to drink, cook, and bathe) with water bills capped at 2% of household income and ironclad protections against shutoffs for families who can’t afford to pay.”
“I’ll push to accelerate federal infrastructure funding to get every lead pipe out of Michigan’s water systems by 2030 — seven years ahead of the current federal deadline.”
Review health and pollution burden before siting new pollution sources
“Abdul is fighting for an economy that works for everyone, healthcare for all, affordable housing, quality education, clean air and water, and sensible foreign policy.”
“Guarantee cumulative impact review for air quality – Require regulators to assess a community’s existing pollution burden–industrial emissions, diesel truck and rail traffic, and other combined sources–before allowing any new pollution sources nearby, guaranteeing air quality doesn’t get worse in Michigan neighborhoods already experiencing the highest levels of pollution.”
“I don’t care if you’re a black child in the city of Detroit or a brown child growing up in Dearborn or a white child growing up in Escanaba, what you deserve is to get an amazing education. What you deserve is to breathe clean air, drink clean water.”
“It means strengthening air quality standards to account for the cumulative impact of multiple pollutants on vulnerable communities. After all, a child in Detroit breathing diesel exhaust, industrial particulates, and ozone simultaneously deserves a regulatory framework that reflects that reality.”
“I’ve spent my career as a public health official in Detroit and Wayne County fighting back: confronting childhood lead poisoning, and standing between polluters and the communities they poison.”
“It means strengthening NEPA so that communities have a meaningful voice before fossil fuel projects are permitted in their backyards, not after the damage is done.”
“The climate crisis is not a future threat. It’s here in the forms of historic storms battering Michigan farms, flooding that overwhelms Wayne County neighborhoods, and severe weather that has become the new normal across our state.”
Require companies and public projects to hire local workers
Hold companies to enforceable job commitments
Create good-paying union jobs
“In January, Abdul released his “Terms of Engagement” for data center construction to address another major aspect of AI’s rapid expansion and a point of contention in communities across Michigan. The policy would put conditions on construction, including local job guarantees from the corporations who fund them, stringent energy regulations that ensure utility companies can’t hike rates for Michiganders, and environmental protections that stop corporate polluters in their tracks.”
“It is absolutely necessary that, at the federal level, that we pass public policy that does the following things: Number 1: If it’s going to make jobs, they better be good, union jobs.”
“I believe in bringing dignified, well-paying jobs to Michigan. That means investing in the research, development, and growth of the technologies of the future while using tools like tariffs in a steady, thoughtful, and targeted way to protect them as they grow.”
Invest in community colleges, trade schools and vocational education
Make job training free or affordable, without debt
Help workers find jobs through placement programs
“This endorsement affirms Abdul’s commitment to the Working Families Guarantee, a policy platform that seeks to create a more affordable and dignified America for the working class. It includes a commitment to more affordable housing and healthcare, creating a national program to help workers find union jobs, guaranteed low-cost childcare, and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave – achievable by taxing the ultra-wealthy and eliminating big money in our politics.”
“Education Investment: Education should be free, particular for early and mid-career workers through community college partnerships, guaranteed apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship training.”
“Education & Workforce Pipeline: Fixing school infrastructure funding formulas, building toward debt-free and tuition-free higher education, and expanding HBCU and apprenticeship investment.”
“We need to think past traditional models of education. I’ll work alongside our unions to fund and expand vocational and apprenticeship training opportunities so that every American has a pathway to expand their skills.”
“I’m running to stand shoulder to shoulder with organized labor, take on the greedy corporations and cowardly politicians who have rigged the system against working people. Together we’ll make sure workers have the power they deserve.”
“This endorsement affirms Abdul’s commitment to the Working Families Guarantee, a policy platform that seeks to create a more affordable and dignified America for the working class. It includes a commitment to more affordable housing and healthcare, creating a national program to help workers find union jobs, guaranteed low-cost childcare, and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave – achievable by taxing the ultra-wealthy and eliminating big money in our politics.”
“This kind of technology will be transformative for humanity with potential for incredible strides in health and research, but it must be strictly regulated to protect American jobs and maintain trust amongst deepfakes and misinformation.”
“Earlier this year, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act to transfer 50% equity from the largest AI companies into public hands. The El-Sayed campaign proposes to take that one step further to give Americans a seat at the table to determine the future of this transformational technology, protect American jobs, and establish guardrails to keep us safe and ultimately benefit everyone, not just tech CEOs.”
“AI was built on our data and our labor; we should own a piece of it. Senator Bernie Sanders’s American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act would transfer 50% equity from the largest AI companies into public hands. I support that effort and propose to take it one step further because Americans deserve a seat at the table.”
“We must institute a per-worker-equivalent tax on AI-driven automation to reinvest in an annual AI dividend, expanded Unemployment Benefits and Wage Insurance, and our communities throughout the state.”
“Divesting all frontier AI labs from the Big Tech giants like Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft. I called for public ownership—with 50% of equity owned by the American people—and an AI dividend.”
“To address the risk of massive automation of our jobs, I support exploring income protection programs such as wage insurance and basic income, worker investment through unions, adjusting our tax system to stop penalizing human employment and rewarding automation, and investment in small business revolving loan funds.”
“We must protect and expand prevailing wage protections and champion worker-centered trade policies, including strategic tariffs to grow good union jobs.”
“When I’m in the United States Senate, I’ll fight for real, fair trade deals that create good-paying jobs for Michigan workers and prioritize our families over billionaires and corporate greed.”
Make the H-2A farmworker visa program easier to use
Give immigrant workers a path to legal status
“I’ll reform the H-2A guest worker program through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, creating real pathways to legal status for the immigrant farmworkers who harvest our food while streamlining a visa system that currently leaves family farms in limbo every season.”
Other things the site says about labor and employment (9)
“Last year alone, GM’s $30M CEO authorized the company to spend $6 billion to buy its own stocks to inflate its stock price, rather than innovating to protect jobs for their workers. This used to be illegal. Now it’s being weaponized to throw workers out in the cold. Companies should care more about their workers than Wall Street.”
“The constitutional right to organize, bargain collectively, and be treated with dignity on the job sits at the foundation of a fair economy. Yet for decades, pro-corporate, anti-worker policies have systematically undermined these rights—tilting the balance of power away from workers and toward corporations and billionaires.”
“As Michigan’s U.S. Senator, Abdul will prioritize rebuilding our economic and political systems to empower working people, protecting them from intimidation and exploitation”
“Protecting retirement security, especially multi-employer pensions, by defending the Butch Lewis Act and supporting the Protecting Employees and Retirees in Business Bankruptcies Act.”
“Congress must resist efforts to repeal, weaken, or defund the Butch Lewis Act implemented under the American Rescue Plan and instead codify it as a permanent pillar of federal retirement policy.”
“Expanded Unemployment Benefits and Wage Insurance: Longer duration, higher wage replacement, and a federal bridge that makes up the gap between old and new wages during transition.”
“You deserve to have a union. You deserve to know that your politicians are not bought off by big corporations. You deserve better than a war that we’re fighting aimlessly that raises your gas prices, that raises the price of your groceries.”
Fund schools more fairly, with more for poorer districts
Fund repairs and upgrades of aging school buildings
“Education & Workforce Pipeline: Fixing school infrastructure funding formulas, building toward debt-free and tuition-free higher education, and expanding HBCU and apprenticeship investment.”
“Fund Underfunded School Infrastructure – Assure that every child goes to a school that is modern, clean, warm, and dry by updating funding formulas that deprive schools in urban communities from the infrastructure funding they need.”
“I think we should tax billionaire wealth, take some of that money, bring it back to public education. Take some of that money, build schools and roads, provide health care, provide child care.”
“Further, we need to think beyond the outdated funding models that tie school funding to property taxes, which deprive working-class communities and schools of sufficient resources.”
“Modernize CTE and ease debt – Increase Perkins V funding for career and technical education in majority-Black and majority-Latino school districts, and expand loan forgiveness for graduates who return to work in high-need public service fields in the communities they came from.”
“We need to think past traditional models of education. I’ll work alongside our unions to fund and expand vocational and apprenticeship training opportunities so that every American has a pathway to expand their skills.”
“In addition, I believe in expanding funding for America’s HBCUs, community colleges, and trade schools, recognizing that these have been the engine of social mobility for generations of young people locked out of other forms of higher education.”
“I believe in the right to literacy. That starts with universal childcare, universal pre-K, and public K-12 education that is comprehensive, empowering, and tailored to kids’ unique needs.”
“These taxes should support better pay for teachers, healthcare expansion through Medicare for All, direct cash transfers, capping childcare costs, eliminating medical debt and other domestic priorities.”
Make college and trade school affordable and available to all
Make public college and trade school tuition-free
“Education Investment: Education should be free, particular for early and mid-career workers through community college partnerships, guaranteed apprenticeships, and entrepreneurship training.”
“Education & Workforce Pipeline: Fixing school infrastructure funding formulas, building toward debt-free and tuition-free higher education, and expanding HBCU and apprenticeship investment.”
“Sadly, too few have access to our colleges and universities. That’s why I believe that every student deserves a debt-free and tuition-free pathway toward the skills they need to thrive, be that a two-year apprenticeship or a four-year college education and beyond.”
“To cap the runaway inflation in higher education, I believe we must cap the administrative overhead costs for institutions receiving federal funding. We need more research and teaching rather than rec centers and flavors of frozen yogurt.”
Oppose vouchers and keep public money in public schools
“Public school should be truly public–and I oppose efforts to privatize public education through vouchers and other programs intended to move public money into private pockets.”
Expand loan forgiveness for public service and high-need careers
Let students attend college without going into debt
“Education & Workforce Pipeline: Fixing school infrastructure funding formulas, building toward debt-free and tuition-free higher education, and expanding HBCU and apprenticeship investment.”
“Modernize CTE and ease debt – Increase Perkins V funding for career and technical education in majority-Black and majority-Latino school districts, and expand loan forgiveness for graduates who return to work in high-need public service fields in the communities they came from.”
“Sadly, too few have access to our colleges and universities. That’s why I believe that every student deserves a debt-free and tuition-free pathway toward the skills they need to thrive, be that a two-year apprenticeship or a four-year college education and beyond.”
Give every child a good education regardless of ZIP code, race or income
“I don’t care if you’re a black child in the city of Detroit or a brown child growing up in Dearborn or a white child growing up in Escanaba, what you deserve is to get an amazing education. What you deserve is to breathe clean air, drink clean water.”
Leave children's medical decisions to families and doctors, not politicians
“Healthcare decisions should be made by a patient (and their parents if they are a minor) and their doctor–no one else. That includes reproductive and gender-affirming care.”
Keep federal protection of students' civil rights and special education
“Rather than gutting the Department of Education, I will support public schools, protect the civil rights of children, respect and invest in our educators and staff, and fight to guarantee high-quality public education for all.”
Other things the site says about education and culture (6)
“As a proud graduate of public schools and a public university, I understand the critical role of funding education from childcare through K-12 and beyond to prepare our young people for their futures.”
“I protected children in Detroit from lead in their schools, and I believe that we need a massive investment in school infrastructure–the buildings and community spaces that are so critical to the safety and security of children in the place we leave them, most of the day, most of the year.”
“I also support more investment in paraprofessionals, including nurses, psychologists, social workers, and behavioral health specialists, so that all students have access to wraparound services that are critical to ensuring a healthy and productive learning environment.”
“The federal government has failed to care for students with disabilities and special needs and I believe we should fulfill our obligation to finally fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.”
“America’s colleges and universities are among its most critical research institutions. They deserve more funding, not less. That funding should focus on high-risk, high-impact science that has the potential to change the world.”
“Abdul is running for Senate to end Donald Trump’s massive price hikes—including taking on Trump’s trade war with Canada and fighting to end the illegal, forever wars that are making life more expensive for Michigan families.”
“I’m running for Senate with a different approach: End the war. Invest Michigan tax dollars in Michigan. End dumb tariffs and bad trade deals. Make stuff here and life affordable again to lighten the load.”
Deal with Iran through diplomacy rather than military force
“In Washington, Abdul will fight to bring down costs, end Trump’s illegal, endless war in Iran, and make sure Michigan tax dollars go towards making life better for Michiganders.”
“While I oppose a nuclear-armed Iran, I understand that diplomatic means of achieving that goal are more effective and come with a far lower human cost, just as President Obama had achieved under the JCPOA.”
“We should lead the world to protect democracy, prosperity, and peace. We ensure security at home and abroad by standing with our democratic allies and engaging in a foreign policy that centers diplomacy, cooperation, and human rights.”
Limit or put conditions on U.S. weapons for Israel
“Right now, our tax dollars and American-made weapons are being used to perpetrate a genocide in Gaza, illegal settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and the attempted annexation of Southern Lebanon. That must end.”
Strengthen U.S. alliances and rebuild trust with allies
“We should lead the world to protect democracy, prosperity, and peace. We ensure security at home and abroad by standing with our democratic allies and engaging in a foreign policy that centers diplomacy, cooperation, and human rights.”
“Helping to diminish deprivation and disease abroad isn’t just charity, it’s important for our own safety and prosperity. That’s why I support immediate re-investment in foreign aid, including to UNRWA.”
Avoid war with China through diplomacy and de-escalation
Cooperate with China on climate, AI and other shared challenges
Hold China to fair trade rules and stop intellectual property theft
Out-compete China by investing in U.S. research and industry
“International Public Cooperation and Governance Boards: We should negotiate a US-China treaty to pause and ban superintelligence, modeled on the Cold War deal in which Reagan and Gorbachev eliminated a class of nuclear missiles through inspections. A verification board would count chips and data centers, a scientific panel would share threat assessments, and a 24-hour hotline would flag incidents. Access to American chips and cloud services should be conditioned on signing and complying, and we should tighten chip export controls now.”
“I oppose the warlike pathway that the foreign policy establishment has pursued with China. Our competition with China is not fated toward kinetic war. Where we compete, it should be with our research, development, and economic power, building solutions to the problems of the future.”
“While we must insist that China play by the rules when it comes to trade and intellectual property, we must also recognize that our shared futures are better when we cooperate with each other for the benefit of all of our people, rather than compete in a zero-sum arms race that makes all of us less safe.”
“Abdul later said “this was a war that never should have been fought,” and called out the massive price hikes from Trump’s illegal war that are hurting Michigan families.”
“When we act in the interest of human rights and democracy –as in supporting Ukraine against Russian invasion–we find ourselves on the right side of justice. It’s when we break the rules we worked so hard to set up–as in Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba, or Palestine–that we make critical, deadly mistakes.”
“I believe that in an era where our schools are crumbling and healthcare is unaffordable, we should be spending our taxpayer dollars here at home. That’s why I oppose direct blank-check funding to foreign militaries–including Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and others.”
“And I support America’s meaningful engagement in the World Health Organization, the Conference of Parties, and the Paris Agreement to both address the climate crisis and global health challenges.”
Ban landlords from colluding on rents, including through pricing software
Expand housing vouchers and rental assistance
“Abdul is fighting for an economy that works for everyone, healthcare for all, affordable housing, quality education, clean air and water, and sensible foreign policy.”
“I look forward to working alongside Common Defense as a U.S. Senator to deliver guaranteed healthcare, sustainable and affordable housing, humane foreign policy, and an end to corruption and greed in our politics.”
“This endorsement affirms Abdul’s commitment to the Working Families Guarantee, a policy platform that seeks to create a more affordable and dignified America for the working class. It includes a commitment to more affordable housing and healthcare, creating a national program to help workers find union jobs, guaranteed low-cost childcare, and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave – achievable by taxing the ultra-wealthy and eliminating big money in our politics.”
“Michigan’s seniors worked, paid in, and played by the rules. They deserve Medicare that actually covers all their health needs, Social Security they can live on, and a home they can afford to stay in.”
“90-Day Housing Access for Veterans & Families: Setting an enforceable 90-day standard from application to lease-up for HUD-VASH and Housing Choice Voucher applicants.”
“A binding timeline – Require HUD-VASH and Housing Choice Voucher applicants to reach lease-up within 90 days of application, with public reporting by housing authority, and cut wait times by digitizing applications and allowing self-certification or virtual inspections for minor issues.”
“Accountability and veterans first – Tie a share of HUD administrative fee funding to housing authorities meeting the 90-day benchmark, paired with technical assistance rather than punishment for under-resourced agencies, and expand HUD-VASH voucher allocations with VA caseworkers embedded locally to fast-track veteran eligibility.”
“Too many Americans are priced out of the most basic necessity of shelter. And working people can’t afford housing in the communities in which they work. I aim to solve it.”
Target homebuying help to first-generation and underserved buyers
“Affordable Housing & Homeownership: Expanding Low-Income Housing Tax Credit allocations, fixing HUD’s Area Median Income calculations, and expanding down-payment assistance and FHA/USDA loan access in majority-Black and majority-Latino neighborhoods.”
“Make ownership and affordability real – Fix HUD’s Area Median Income calculations to use local, not regional, income data; expand first-generation down-payment assistance and FHA/USDA loan access in majority-Black and majority-Latino neighborhoods; tie federal investment to tenant protections and right-to-counsel so revitalization doesn’t price out longtime residents.”
Expand housing tax credits like the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
Attach conditions to housing money, like lasting affordability
Revise the Area Median Income measure that sets affordable housing limits
“Affordable Housing & Homeownership: Expanding Low-Income Housing Tax Credit allocations, fixing HUD’s Area Median Income calculations, and expanding down-payment assistance and FHA/USDA loan access in majority-Black and majority-Latino neighborhoods.”
“Increase supply – Expand Low-Income Housing Tax Credit allocations paired with state gap financing, and tie federal incentives like HUD’s PRO Housing grants to local zoning reform, which will allow for supply-increasing changes like by-right multifamily and accessory dwelling units, reduced parking minimums, and firm permit review timelines, so red tape doesn’t block new units.”
“Make ownership and affordability real – Fix HUD’s Area Median Income calculations to use local, not regional, income data; expand first-generation down-payment assistance and FHA/USDA loan access in majority-Black and majority-Latino neighborhoods; tie federal investment to tenant protections and right-to-counsel so revitalization doesn’t price out longtime residents.”
“We need a building boom. And to create that we need to massively invest in building new housing in communities across the country, and to streamline local regulations that are making it way too hard to build anything in America.”
Cut red tape and speed up permits for home building
Change zoning rules to allow more homes
Use tax credits and incentives to spur home building
Invest public money in building new homes
Tie federal funds to local efforts to build more homes
Build more apartments, ADUs and other kinds of homes
“Increase supply – Expand Low-Income Housing Tax Credit allocations paired with state gap financing, and tie federal incentives like HUD’s PRO Housing grants to local zoning reform, which will allow for supply-increasing changes like by-right multifamily and accessory dwelling units, reduced parking minimums, and firm permit review timelines, so red tape doesn’t block new units.”
“We need a building boom. And to create that we need to massively invest in building new housing in communities across the country, and to streamline local regulations that are making it way too hard to build anything in America.”
Cut red tape and rules that make homes slower and costlier to build
Speed up and simplify permits and approvals for new homes
Reform zoning to allow more homes, like apartments and ADUs
“Increase supply – Expand Low-Income Housing Tax Credit allocations paired with state gap financing, and tie federal incentives like HUD’s PRO Housing grants to local zoning reform, which will allow for supply-increasing changes like by-right multifamily and accessory dwelling units, reduced parking minimums, and firm permit review timelines, so red tape doesn’t block new units.”
“We need a building boom. And to create that we need to massively invest in building new housing in communities across the country, and to streamline local regulations that are making it way too hard to build anything in America.”
Reform zoning rules to allow more homes to be built
Tie federal funding to places that allow and build more housing
Make it easier to build accessory dwelling units
“Increase supply – Expand Low-Income Housing Tax Credit allocations paired with state gap financing, and tie federal incentives like HUD’s PRO Housing grants to local zoning reform, which will allow for supply-increasing changes like by-right multifamily and accessory dwelling units, reduced parking minimums, and firm permit review timelines, so red tape doesn’t block new units.”
Other things the site says about housing and community development (7)
“Federal framework for state-level property tax freezes. For homeowners 65 and older, property tax assessments are frozen at their value at age 65 or the date of enactment, whichever is lower. The federal government provides fiscal incentives and funding to cover municipal revenue shortfalls.”
“Income-targeted priority. Relief is structured to prioritize seniors at or below 200% of the federal poverty level — those most at risk of displacement — while remaining available to all senior homeowners to avoid means-testing complexity at the point of administration.”
“Freeze follows the senior, not the property. The assessment freeze does not transfer on sale or death. When the home changes hands, it reassesses at market value. This preserves local tax base integrity over time while ensuring the relief serves its intended purpose: allowing seniors to remain in their homes on fixed incomes.”
“I want to require Big Tech companies like AirBnB and VRBO to pay special housing dislocation fees for the housing stock they occupy in local communities.”
“Toward that end, I believe we need a federal renter bill of rights that protects renters from exploitation and clarifies the obligations for landlords across the country.”
“These taxes should support better pay for teachers, healthcare expansion through Medicare for All, direct cash transfers, capping childcare costs, eliminating medical debt and other domestic priorities.”
“This endorsement affirms Abdul’s commitment to the Working Families Guarantee, a policy platform that seeks to create a more affordable and dignified America for the working class. It includes a commitment to more affordable housing and healthcare, creating a national program to help workers find union jobs, guaranteed low-cost childcare, and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave – achievable by taxing the ultra-wealthy and eliminating big money in our politics.”
“I think we should tax billionaire wealth, take some of that money, bring it back to public education. Take some of that money, build schools and roads, provide health care, provide child care.”
“I believe in the right to literacy. That starts with universal childcare, universal pre-K, and public K-12 education that is comprehensive, empowering, and tailored to kids’ unique needs.”
Shore up Social Security's finances for the long term
Repeal the rules that cut public workers' Social Security benefits
“The AAA Plan would eliminate cost-sharing for Medicare beneficiaries, lift the Social Security payroll tax cap, and provide a federal framework for state-level property tax freezes that allow seniors to age in place and with dignity.”
“Repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset. WEP and GPO reduce or eliminate Social Security benefits for public employees. That includes folks like teachers, firefighters, police officers, nurses who spent careers serving their communities under pension systems that operated outside Social Security. These workers paid into their pensions instead of Social Security, often by statutory requirement, not by choice. WEP penalizes them for it by cutting their earned Social Security benefits. GPO goes further, eliminating spousal and survivor benefits for public-sector retirees. Both provisions are punitive, both disproportionately harm women, and both should be repealed in full.”
“Lift the payroll tax cap. The Social Security payroll tax currently cuts off at $176,100 in earned income. A billionaire and a warehouse worker pay identical dollar amounts above that threshold on every additional dollar earned. Eliminating that cap more than extends Social Security solvency through the century.”
“I’ll also fight to close the Social Security payroll tax cap to make sure the rich pay their fair share so that Social Security stays solvent well into the future.”
Expand and strengthen SNAP, WIC and other food assistance
Connect local farms with SNAP, food banks and meal programs
“Support the whole family and track results – Strengthen and simplify WIC enrollment, pair maternal health investment with safe, stable housing support for pregnant and postpartum families, and direct Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant dollars specifically toward closing Black maternal mortality disparities, with public reporting by race and county.”
“He will support the bipartisan Local Farmers Feeding our Communities Act, which would restore funding to connect local farmers with community food programs like food banks—giving Michigan growers a dependable local buyer and families fresh food grown by their neighbors.”
“As Director of Health, Human, and Veterans Service, Dr. El-Sayed worked alongside Wayne County Executive Warren Evans to successfully deliver a $7.5 million investment to expand Rx Kids into communities across Southeast Michigan.”
“Ending the tax on Social Security benefits. Seniors earned their social security benefit. They should keep all of it. Social security benefits should be excluded from gross income.”
“National RxKids – Expand the RxKids program nationwide, providing unconditional cash assistance to expectant and new mothers to empower young families to invest in their children.”
“I look forward to working alongside Common Defense as a U.S. Senator to deliver guaranteed healthcare, sustainable and affordable housing, humane foreign policy, and an end to corruption and greed in our politics.”
“To get corporate and special interest money out of politics, I support legislation to overturn the disastrous Citizens United Supreme Court decision.”
Other things the site says about government operations and elections (7)
“Democracy Protections: We need a federal ban on deceptive AI-generated political media, mandatory disclosure of AI-generated political ads, and a federal task force on algorithmic disinformation with real enforcement power.”
“Money Out of Politics means we should not have corporations buying and selling politics in ways that get them to look the other way, which is exactly what Mike Rogers would do.”
“Donald Trump is not himself the disease – he’s the worst symptom of the disease of our politics. The disease is the way big corporations and special interests and billionaires can buy politicians and use it to rig the system against us”
“I believe that congressional districts should be drawn by a federal nonpartisan committee of experts who are appointed for defined terms on a rolling basis and who work alongside the U.S. Census Bureau, similar to the Federal Reserve Board. This would come as close as possible to eliminating the partisan gerrymandering that exists because of apportionment by partisan state governments in most states.”
“The filibuster has been used by Senators to shield one another from having to take hard votes. I believe that it is antidemocratic and should be abolished.”
Raise income tax rates on millionaires and top earners
Raise taxes on capital gains and investment income of the wealthy
Close tax loopholes used by the wealthy
Raise taxes on large inheritances
“Taxing the top tier of wealth in this country is one way to finally build an America that works for working people. The Fair Share Tax Agenda is about unrigging a system that has placed an undue burden on working Michiganders while giving corporations and billionaires a free pass.”
“Abdul supports taxing billionaire wealth akin to policies proposed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Ro Khanna, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren and will champion proposals that will reduce the wealth and power of the ultra-rich and return it to working people.”
“This endorsement affirms Abdul’s commitment to the Working Families Guarantee, a policy platform that seeks to create a more affordable and dignified America for the working class. It includes a commitment to more affordable housing and healthcare, creating a national program to help workers find union jobs, guaranteed low-cost childcare, and 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave – achievable by taxing the ultra-wealthy and eliminating big money in our politics.”
“I also believe that we should be taxing billionaires’ wealth. Why? Because I care more that we provide things like childcare and healthcare and good schools and good roads, than allowing a billionaire to make their second billion.”
“Billionaires should pay their fair share back into the system. I believe that means we have to pass a wealth tax. I think when you start taxing billionaire wealth, you have the opportunity to return trillions of dollars back to the economy to allow other people to participate.”
“I think we should tax billionaire wealth, take some of that money, bring it back to public education. Take some of that money, build schools and roads, provide health care, provide child care.”
Stop tax breaks and loopholes for big corporations
Crack down on corporate tax evasion and avoidance
“Taxing the top tier of wealth in this country is one way to finally build an America that works for working people. The Fair Share Tax Agenda is about unrigging a system that has placed an undue burden on working Michiganders while giving corporations and billionaires a free pass.”
“For too long, our tax policies have allowed corporations and billionaires to get away with skirting the rules and evading taxes. Meanwhile, we’ve failed to provide for Americans’ basic needs like healthcare and Social Security while forcing workers to subsidize handouts for billionaires.”
Use targeted tariffs to protect American jobs and industries
Repay businesses, farmers and families for tariff costs
Make tariffs expire automatically
“We must protect and expand prevailing wage protections and champion worker-centered trade policies, including strategic tariffs to grow good union jobs.”
“Abdul will fight back against Donald Trump’s illegal trade wars and work to refund farmers for the costs his devastating tariffs have inflicted on farms across the state.”
“I’m running for Senate with a different approach: End the war. Invest Michigan tax dollars in Michigan. End dumb tariffs and bad trade deals. Make stuff here and life affordable again to lighten the load.”
“I believe in bringing dignified, well-paying jobs to Michigan. That means investing in the research, development, and growth of the technologies of the future while using tools like tariffs in a steady, thoughtful, and targeted way to protect them as they grow.”
“I support targeted, smart tariffs that would help protect Michigan manufacturing and incubate the industries of the future with unions at the forefront. These tariffs would focus on growth industries, rely on clearly communicated benchmarks with trading partners, and sunset as American manufacturers established themselves.”
“Unlike the reckless blanket tariffs that raise farmers’ costs and invite retaliation, I’ll focus duties squarely at the foreign producers who dump below-cost goods into our markets and undercut Michigan farmers who play by the rules.”
“What we understand about these tariffs is that they are, like all things Donald Trump does, ham-fisted, chaotic, and self-serving. This isn’t about protecting the auto industry in Michigan. This is about winning a vanity trade war with a guy who seems to have personally insulted the President.”
“NAFTA, the disastrous trade policy which Mike Rogers supported, bankrupted Michigan communities and sent our manufacturing jobs overseas. Now, unregulated AI expansion threatens to do the exact same thing.”
“But dumb trade agreements negotiated without unions at the table have siphoned away too many manufacturing jobs. Trump’s incoherent, self-serving version of tariffs have only made the problem worse.”
“Access to Capital & Minority Business Growth: Closing the lending and contracting gap by expanding CDFI and SBA lending to minority-owned businesses, with a goal of doubling the share of SBA-backed loans reaching Black- and Latino-owned firms within five years.”
“Close the lending and contracting gap – Expand Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Funds and Small Business Administration (SBA) lending to minority-owned businesses, with a goal of doubling the share of SBA-backed loans reaching Black- and Latino-owned firms within five years, and hold federal agencies accountable to disadvantaged-business contracting targets with real penalties for missing them.”
“Transparency and technical assistance – Require federal lending data to be published by census tract and race on a public dashboard, and fund Minority Business Development Agency centers and CDFI technical-assistance grants so entrepreneurs get real help with applications and compliance.”
“To address the risk of massive automation of our jobs, I support exploring income protection programs such as wage insurance and basic income, worker investment through unions, adjusting our tax system to stop penalizing human employment and rewarding automation, and investment in small business revolving loan funds.”
“I believe in holding corporations accountable. And I stand for a muscular Federal Trade Commission that enforces anti-monopoly laws so the corporations can’t price-gouge us.”
Tighten review of mergers and block those that reduce competition
“Demanding strong antitrust enforcement and empowering the Federal Trade Commission to stop harmful consolidation to protect wages, working conditions, and union contracts.”
“[Under capitalism], competition is supposed to exist. The problem is that when you have a few really big corporations, nobody can compete with them. That’s not capitalism, that’s anti-capitalism… When you start getting away from commerce and into corporate capture, that’s when the system starts to fail. I’m saying that the government needs to step in there and do something about it.”
“I believe in holding corporations accountable. And I stand for a muscular Federal Trade Commission that enforces anti-monopoly laws so the corporations can’t price-gouge us.”
“I’ll fight for an economy where anyone can start and grow a business to build wealth for themselves, their family, their co-workers, and their communities.”
“Restore and modernize voting protections – Support passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to restore preclearance-style review in jurisdictions with a history of discrimination, and establish a federal automatic voter registration standard tied to DMV and public benefits enrollment.”
“Count everyone and protect access – Increase outreach funding for accurate census counts in hard-to-count communities, since census data directly determines how much federal formula funding reaches these neighborhoods, and support same-day registration and secure drop-box access as a federal minimum standard.”
“Instead, I believe in making voting easier. Voters should be automatically registered to vote when they turn eighteen and reregistered automatically when they move.”
“I understand that civil rights are just as important when they protect our rights to do things that others might disagree with. That’s why I believe that the right to speak against your government’s actions and to peacefully protest them are sacrosanct.”
“In the video, Abdul warns that the consequences of that push are now playing out on streets across the country, where more than 120,000 cameras operated by Flock Safety, a private company that sells automated license plate readers, are tracking Americans’ movements and putting their privacy and civil liberties at risk.”
“Nobody is above our constitution. That’s why I’ll protect the rights of all Americans, regardless of where they live, where their parents came from, how—or if—they pray, their sexual orientation, gender identity, how old they are, or how much money they make.”
“Healthcare data must remain private, and state and federal government should have no right to access your data unless it’s for the purposes of providing you healthcare.”
“I believe in a safe, secure border and immigration enforcement–but under a new organizational structure that puts basic human dignity and deference to the rule of law first.”
“The 15-second spot, produced by FIGHT Agency, highlights Abdul as the only candidate in the race to support abolishing ICE – a position he has held since 2018.”
“While Stevens has repeatedly voted to bolster ICE, Abdul has long argued that the agency is fundamentally incompatible with a humane and just immigration system and should be abolished.”
“ICE has become a tool for autocracy. Its culture of aggression, impunity, and disregard for the rule of law cannot be reformed or retrained. It must be abolished.”
“I believe in a safe, secure border and immigration enforcement–but under a new organizational structure that puts basic human dignity and deference to the rule of law first.”
Give undocumented immigrants a path to legal status or citizenship
Give undocumented farm and essential workers legal status
“I’ll reform the H-2A guest worker program through the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, creating real pathways to legal status for the immigrant farmworkers who harvest our food while streamlining a visa system that currently leaves family farms in limbo every season.”
“And I believe that ICE funds should be repurposed to build out the legal infrastructure of courts to create a clear pathway to citizenship for those who are stuck in limbo in our current system.”
“People don’t come here because they want to take away from America, they come here because they want to build in America – that is what America has always been about.”
Enforce immigration laws fairly, with respect for rights and dignity
“I believe in a safe, secure border and immigration enforcement–but under a new organizational structure that puts basic human dignity and deference to the rule of law first.”
“And I believe that ICE funds should be repurposed to build out the legal infrastructure of courts to create a clear pathway to citizenship for those who are stuck in limbo in our current system.”
“That means ensuring every veteran, from those who served overseas, to heroes like Tony Hall who served right here at home, can get the care they’ve rightfully earned.”
“I also believe that no veteran should go without housing, a good job, and an education. That’s why I support vastly expanding the services we provide our veterans to include them.”
Other things the site says about defense and veterans (3)
“As Health, Human, and Veterans Services Director for Wayne County, Abdul oversaw programs for veterans facing a variety of hardships such as eviction and foreclosure, burial costs, and overall financial assistance for veterans and their families. He also managed support programs dedicated to navigating benefit applications through the Department of Veterans Affairs for Wayne County veterans.”
“Abdul is running for Senate to end Donald Trump’s massive price hikes—including taking on Trump’s trade war with Canada and fighting to end the illegal, forever wars that are making life more expensive for Michigan families.”
“In Washington, Abdul will fight to bring down costs, end Trump’s illegal, endless war in Iran, and make sure Michigan tax dollars go towards making life better for Michiganders.”
“I’m running for Senate with a different approach: End the war. Invest Michigan tax dollars in Michigan. End dumb tariffs and bad trade deals. Make stuff here and life affordable again to lighten the load.”
Increase competition in the food industry and block grocery mergers
“Abdul will work in the US Senate to enforce antitrust laws and break up monopolies across the agriculture industry—including meatpacking—that are pricing out family farmers and driving up costs for Michigan families.”
“I’m running for Senate with a different approach: End the war. Invest Michigan tax dollars in Michigan. End dumb tariffs and bad trade deals. Make stuff here and life affordable again to lighten the load.”
“Abdul supports investing in local law enforcement and prosecuting violent criminals, and spent his career in public health helping law enforcement make communities safer.”
“Abdul “worked with Wayne County law enforcement to bring crime down when he was the county health director,” and crime rates fell in both Detroit and Wayne County while he served in leadership.”
Fund police departments and give them the resources they need
“Abdul supports investing in local law enforcement and prosecuting violent criminals, and spent his career in public health helping law enforcement make communities safer.”
Other things the site says about law, crime and courts (4)
“Abdul instituted reforms at the medical examiner’s office, improving efficiency and getting investigators to crime scenes faster, and increasing revenue by $200K by addressing a backlog of paperwork.”
“I understand that the Supreme Court itself has become a major impediment to democracy. The Roberts court has moved to limit voting rights, civil rights, and reproductive rights while expanding Trump’s power.”
“I support Supreme Court reform, including ending the life-time appointments, imposing limited terms, and allowing the same number of appointments for each presidential term.”
“We will anchor it in massive investment in solar, wind, and battery storage, a modernized smart grid, and the energy efficiency upgrades that put money back in families’ pockets.”
Keep data centers from raising household utility bills
Pause new data centers
Give local communities a say in data center decisions
Set binding standards and rules for data centers
Protect local water and the environment from data centers
Require impact reviews and public disclosure for data centers
Make data centers deliver local jobs, benefits and worker protections
“In January, Abdul released his “Terms of Engagement” for data center construction to address another major aspect of AI’s rapid expansion and a point of contention in communities across Michigan. The policy would put conditions on construction, including local job guarantees from the corporations who fund them, stringent energy regulations that ensure utility companies can’t hike rates for Michiganders, and environmental protections that stop corporate polluters in their tracks.”
“In January, we released a Data Center Terms of Engagement platform because communities have the right to know and control what’s being built, who benefits, and what they get in return.”
“This cannot continue to be a race to the bottom as the richest people in society make robots that could ultimately end humanity, as they’re now talking about, while the rest of us have to deal with these hulking data centers in our backyard raising our utility rates and destroying our water. We can do better, it means regulation, and we needed that regulation yesterday, so the best we can do is tomorrow.”
“Pause Frontier AI Now: There’s no greater marker of how broken our political system is than how this has somehow not happened yet. Freeze the training and release of the most powerful AI systems until real safety rules and enforcement exists. Independent scientists must certify safety before the pause lifts, and new AI data centers wait too.”
“Data centers are among the most direct impacts of new technologies in the lives of everyday Michiganders. I support comprehensive federal zoning guidelines and legislation that protect communities from their unintended consequences.”
“Toward that end, I created a leading edge policy proposal for “Terms of Engagement” for data centers that I intend to pass as federal law in the U.S. Senate.”
Keep data centers and other big power users from raising household bills
“In January, Abdul released his “Terms of Engagement” for data center construction to address another major aspect of AI’s rapid expansion and a point of contention in communities across Michigan. The policy would put conditions on construction, including local job guarantees from the corporations who fund them, stringent energy regulations that ensure utility companies can’t hike rates for Michiganders, and environmental protections that stop corporate polluters in their tracks.”
“This cannot continue to be a race to the bottom as the richest people in society make robots that could ultimately end humanity, as they’re now talking about, while the rest of us have to deal with these hulking data centers in our backyard raising our utility rates and destroying our water. We can do better, it means regulation, and we needed that regulation yesterday, so the best we can do is tomorrow.”
“Every step of that transition must be built on good union jobs because solving the climate crisis, rebuilding the American middle class, and providing reliable, affordable power are not competing goals–they are the same goal.”
“We will anchor it in massive investment in solar, wind, and battery storage, a modernized smart grid, and the energy efficiency upgrades that put money back in families’ pockets.”
“Every step of that transition must be built on good union jobs because solving the climate crisis, rebuilding the American middle class, and providing reliable, affordable power are not competing goals–they are the same goal.”
“I support shutting down Line 5, which is putting our Great Lakes at risk and has the potential to destroy sensitive environmental and tribal sites. In the meantime, we need to make the line safer so long as proper care is taken not to disrupt the line itself or destroy sensitive environmental or tribal sites.”
Invest in upgrading and modernizing the power grid
“We will anchor it in massive investment in solar, wind, and battery storage, a modernized smart grid, and the energy efficiency upgrades that put money back in families’ pockets.”
“We will anchor it in massive investment in solar, wind, and battery storage, a modernized smart grid, and the energy efficiency upgrades that put money back in families’ pockets.”
“Oil and gas dependence doesn’t just poison our air, it finances foreign entanglements and enriches the same corporations that have spent decades lying to us about what they knew.”
Invest in repairing and modernizing roads and bridges
“I think we should tax billionaire wealth, take some of that money, bring it back to public education. Take some of that money, build schools and roads, provide health care, provide child care.”
“We need laws that would stop Wall Street speculators from wrecking good companies and killing good jobs, force publicly-traded corporations to be accountable to their workers, and protect workers on the job.”
“That’s why I support legislation that both clarifies the governance and legitimate use-cases of blockchain for financial services, and more importantly, protects consumers and the public from those who would use financial technology to launder funds, defraud the public, or engage in corruption.”
