LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Did the Republican-controlled Michigan House of Representatives send a message to Dana Nessel when it proposed slashing her office’s budget by 30%?
The reason why may be clear over events of the last six years. Nessel took office in January 2019. Her office has grown from 531 full-time employees in 2018-19 to 621.4 full-time positions in 2024-25. Her office’s budget was $103.9 million when she took office and has jumped to $129.5 million in 2022-23, $143.3 million in 2023-24 and $129.7 million in 2024-25.
What are Nessel priorities?
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Nessel, a Democrat, has been on her soap box about Donald Trump since Trump won the presidency last November. For example, Nessel issued 13 press releases opposing the Trump administration in the 17 business days from Aug. 13 through Sept. 2.
In the spring, Nessel called Trump a fascist. “Why I refuse to normalize this president,” Nessel wrote April 10. “Appeasement is not workable strategy with a fascist.”
Most of Nessel’s oppositions are for show because they involve actions by the Trump administration in other states and are already represented in court by numerous other entities.
While continually focusing on Trump, Nessel’s office has not issued a press release on the growing concern over terrorism and spying involving Chinese nationals and the University of Michigan.
Nessel’s actions beg a big question.
Why would the Republicans want to continually fund a one-office crusade against the president? Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, has shown some willingness to work with Trump.
The House-passed budget would reduce funding to Nessel’s office from $137.3 million to $91.3 million, according to the House Fiscal Agency.
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“When you talk about what it means to defund the police, it is that budget proposed by the House,” Nessel told MLive. However, Nessel has come across as anti-police to many public safety advocates.
Nessel is Michigan’s top law enforcement officer.
Nessel’s anti-police vibe came after posting a tone-deaf press release in March 2025 about Eric Fiddler; he murdered sheriff’s deputy William Butler during a traffic stop.
Fiddler then fled and later shot at police while trying to ambush them in the woods as police were closing in on him. Police responded and fired back and killed Fiddler.
The headline from Nessel’s office on her press release on her office’s investigation of the shooting: “No Charges for MSP Troopers in Fatal 2024 Shooting of Fugitive Eric Michael Fiddler.”
Local TV stations just parroted the AG’s headline, which angered Ingham County Sheriff Scott Wriggelsworth.
“How about a headline that reads, ‘Hero Troopers Justified in Officer-Involved Shooting,’” Wriggelsworth asked in a YouTube video he posted in response to the coverage.
Don’t forget George Floyd.
Nessel joined a mob of politicians and media implying police as being racist in a June 3, 2020, press release, a week after the death of George Floyd.
“The fact is this: we cannot lose one more life simply because we’re unwilling to acknowledge that there are problems with how and who we police,” Nessel said in her press release. “These tragedies cannot continue to be written off as unfortunate accidents, or the rogue acts of a bad cop or the results of poor training, or the consequences of too few resources.”