Durbin Calls Out Republicans' "Silence Of The Lambs" During Trump's First 100 Days In Office
Durbin announces his plan to come to the Senate Floor to highlight the President’s latest outrage—and the GOP’s inevitable silence in the face of it—until Republicans start using the voices they were elected to raise
WASHINGTON – On President Donald Trump’s 100th day in office, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) called out his Republican colleagues for their silence as the President tests—and violates—the bounds of our Constitution, amasses power for himself as he tanks our economy, violates the rights of Americans, and destroys our image abroad.
“The jury’s in. At the end of 100 days, the major polling firms across the United States went out and asked the American people so what do you think? What’s your impression of this new President? What’s your impression of the MAGA agenda? The results that came back don’t surprise me, but they might surprise some,” Durbin said. “Overwhelmingly, on every major issue that this administration has taken a position, the American people have said we don’t like it. We’re not happy with what’s happening in this country today.”
Durbin continued, “For a hundred days, President Trump and his administration, mainly billionaire buddies like Elon Musk, have brought us chaos, wreaked havoc, sowed division. President Trump has undermined the Constitution, our system of checks and balances, and the rule of law. And through it all, I’m sad to report, my Republican colleagues have remained silent.”
Durbin went on to outline some of the atrocities the Trump Administration has committed in the first 100 days of his second term, including the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia; Trump’s ill-conceived, mindless tariff tax war; threatening to withhold federal funds from higher education institutions to coerce them to give up their constitutional rights; and the Secretary of Defense violating national security protocol and sharing classified war plans in a Signal chat that mistakenly included a journalist.
“Unelected billionaire Elon Musk and his DOGE brothers gut the federal government, leading to cuts to life-saving medical research, Americans unable to get their Social Security benefits, and threats to Medicaid. What was the response from the Republican side to these outrageous developments under the Trump Administration? Silence,” Durbin said.
Durbin continued, “Never in our nation’s history has a co-equal branch of government so willfully rolled over and ceded their power. It is in fact the ‘silence of the lambs.’ The President is testing and violating the bounds of our Constitution, amassing power for himself as the economy tanks, violating the rights of Americans, and destroying our image abroad.”
Durbin concluded, “My congressional Republican [colleagues] have the power to join us in an historic stand on so many areas that this President has violated. They have majorities in both chambers of Congress and, at private moments, many of them express outrage and horror at Trump’s dangerous abandonment of law, norms, and the will of the American people. But as our constituents suffer, out of fear of retaliation, Republicans remain silent. When we are elected Members of Congress, we swear an oath to the Constitution, not to any politician or any president. It’s time both parties remember that and lived accordingly. So, I’m coming to the floor regularly to highlight the President’s latest outrage and the GOP’s inevitable silence in the face of it. Until they start using the voices they were elected to raise, we are going to continue to have a pending constitutional crisis in this country.”
Video of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Audio of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here.
Footage of Durbin’s remarks on the Senate floor is available here for TV Stations.
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