Deborah Ann Stabenow (/ˈstæbənaʊ/ STAB-ə-now; née Greer; born April 29, 1950) is an American politician who served from 2001 to 2025 as a United States senator from Michigan.

[1][2] Stabenow was born in Gladwin, Michigan, the daughter of Anna Merle (née Hallmark) and Robert Lee Greer.

[4] While a graduate student at Michigan State University in 1974, Stabenow ran for public office for the first time, inspired by the threatened closure of a local nursing home.

[5] In 1994, Stabenow ran in Michigan's Democratic gubernatorial primary to challenge incumbent Republican John Engler in the general election.

After the primary, Wolpe chose Stabenow as his running mate, and she appeared on the general election ballot as the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.

[11] Stabenow was challenged by Republican Michael Bouchard, Oakland County sheriff and former State Senate Majority Floor Leader.

[39] In 2013, Greg Kaufmann of The Nation wrote an article stating that Stabenow was prepared to cut $8 to $9 billion from the food stamp (SNAP) program.

[40] In 2017, Stabenow fought to prevent the creation of additional work-requirement rules on SNAP recipients who were older or had smaller children and led a bipartisan effort to get the legislation passed.

[53] In 2010, she introduced the China Fair Trade Act, saying it would "prevent federal taxpayer dollars from being used to purchase Chinese products and services until they sign on to and abide by the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement."

[54][55][56][57] In October 2011, Stabenow called for tax breaks for firms developing bio-based products, using crops like soybeans and corn to create prescriptions drugs, plastics, and soaps.

[58] In August 2012, Stabenow expressed support for "strategic partnerships between farmers and industry" and for a recent Obama directive to boost federal purchases of bio-based products.

The IEDC cited her work on the 2014 Farm Bill, her sponsorship in 2013 of the New Skills for New Jobs Act, and her role in the federal bridge loan program.

She said they had "reached a bipartisan agreement that funds children's health insurance and moves us closer to a solution that provides long-term certainty for Michigan families and our national defense".

[80][81] In January 2017, she opposed Trump's executive order temporarily limiting immigration from several Muslim majority countries, saying it: "is ruining America's reputation in the world, undermining our relationships with our most critical allies, and most heartbreakingly, destroying the lives of good and law-abiding people.

[86] Recounting a 2014 Senate hearing on income inequality, George Packer singled out Stabenow as the only committee member who pushed back on the idea that it was caused largely by the withdrawal from the workforce of middle-aged people who preferred to collect welfare.

"[87] She received low scores from low-spending advocates (Club for Growth, 2016, 8%; Council for Citizens against Government Waste, 2015, 0%; National Taxpayers Union, 2015, 9%).

In 2012, she co-sponsored a bill to freeze student loan interest rates at 3.4 percent and make additional funds available for Pell Grants.

[95] In 2017, following the Las Vegas shooting, Stabenow and Debbie Dingell introduced a law that would make it illegal for people convicted of misdemeanor stalking to buy guns.

[109] The bill included highly controversial provisions, drafted by Senators Carl Levin and John McCain in closed session, that would allow for the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens deemed potential terrorists and enemies of the state.

[113] The amendment would have given “coal-fired power plants, oil refineries and other industrial sources a two year exemption” from rules requiring them to report greenhouse gas emissions.

"[115] In February 2019, in response to reports of the EPA intending to decide against setting drinking water limits for perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as part of an upcoming national strategy to manage the chemicals, Stabenow was one of 20 senators to sign a letter to Acting EPA Administrator Andrew R. Wheeler calling on the agency: "to develop enforceable federal drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS, as well as institute immediate actions to protect the public from contamination from additional per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

[120] In September 2016, Stabenow and Peters led an effort to link an aid package for the Flint water crisis to flood relief funds for Louisiana.

[121] On August 31, 2006, Stabenow, Senator Carl Levin and Representative John Dingell announced an agreement that would completely cease Ontario's dumping of solid waste in Michigan within four years.

[122] In July 2006, the Senate unanimously passed a law sponsored by Stabenow requiring the payment of a $420 inspection fee for every truckload of Canadian trash brought into Michigan.

[125][126] Stabenow, as Senate Agriculture Committee Chair, added an amendment to the 2013–14 Farm Bill that prohibited state laws requiring GMO labeling for foods.

[129] In January 2017, Stabenow opposed Trump's nomination of Jeff Sessions as AG: "Because of his record on civil rights and his votes against anti-domestic violence legislation, I cannot support him to be our nation's highest law enforcement officer...Families in Michigan and across the country deserve an attorney general who will enforce the nation's laws fairly and equally.

"[131] In July 2018, citing his past rulings on presidential powers, she opposed the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, furthermore stating that the FBI should perform a background check regarding multiple allegations of sexual assault.

[132][133] She similarly opposed Trump's 2020 nomination of Amy Coney Barrett, stating: "It's very clear from her writings, multiple writings, that she will be the vote that takes away health care for millions of Americans, including 130 million people and counting with pre-existing conditions..."[134] She voted against the nomination while wearing a face mask depicting Barrett's predecessor Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

[137] In February 2023, a portrait of Stabenow by Michigan artist Joshua Adam Risner was unveiled in the Russell Senate Office Building.

[143] Stabenow had a cameo appearance in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as governor of the unspecified state in which Metropolis is located.