Press Releases
Currently showing results related to Justice and Civil Rights
Following Comey Indictment, Durbin, Senate Judiciary Democrats Demand Answers On The Politicization Of DOJ As President Trump Pursues Criminal Charges Against His Political Enemies
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today led eight Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats in demanding answers from Attorney General (AG) Pam Bondi about the continued weaponization of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in light of the forced resignation of Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Erik Seibert and the indictment of former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey. In the … Continue Reading
September 26, 2025
Durbin Statement On Indictment Of Former FBI Director James Comey
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement on the Trump-Bondi Department of Justice indictment of former FBI Director James Comey: “The Department of Justice has become a political tool of a vengeful President. President Trump wears his corruption like a badge of honor and defies anyone daring to challenge him. The Attorney General willingly complies with every order from the White House. “Is … Continue Reading
August 14, 2025
Durbin Demands The Acting Inspector General Investigate The Trump Administration's Purging Of FBI Officials
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged the Department of Justice’s Acting Inspector General William Blier to investigate the arbitrary removals, forced retirements, and reassignments of senior Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) executives, special agents in charge (SACs), and other supervisory agents and the impact these decisions have had on the Bureau’s national security and law enforcement operations, as well as … Continue Reading
August 12, 2025
Durbin, Booker Urge Supreme Court To Maintain Of Landmark Bipartisan Criminal Justice Reform Law In Fernandez V. United States
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court urging the justices to maintain the strength of their landmark bipartisan criminal justice reform law, the First Step Act. In the upcoming case Fernandez v. United States, the justices will consider whether there are limitations on what circumstances may serve as the extraordinary and compelling reasons that … Continue Reading
August 02, 2025
Durbin Statement On Senate Confirmation of Jeanine Pirro To Be U.S. Attorney For The District Of Columbia
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today released the following statement after the Senate voted to confirm Jeanine Pirro to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia: “As I’ve said for weeks, Ms. Pirro’s record is deeply troubling. She’s a January 6 apologist, siding with violent insurrectionists over law enforcement and supporting criminal charges against line prosecutors who handled insurrection-related … Continue Reading
July 30, 2025
Durbin Delivers Opening Statement At Spotlight Forum Examining Trump Administration's Voter Suppression Efforts
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement at his and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla’s (D-CA) spotlight forum entitled “Protecting the Future of American Democracy: Fighting a Surge in Voter Suppression.” Today’s spotlight forum examined the recent surge in voter suppression by Republican state legislatures and the Trump Administration, ranging from attempts to purge voter rolls to the push to … Continue Reading
July 29, 2025
Durbin, Warnock Reintroduce John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Senator Reverand Raphael Warnock (D-GA), along with U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and all other Senate Democrats, today reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, legislation that would update and restore critical safeguards of the original Voting Rights Act. This legislation is especially relevant in … Continue Reading
March 06, 2025
Durbin Discusses U.S.-Israel Relations, Antisemitism With JACPAC
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, met with members of the Joint Action Committee for Political Affairs (JACPAC). JACPAC is a national organization dedicated to supporting issues reflective of Jewish values, including promoting strong U.S.-Israel relations, combating antisemitism, and supporting reproductive rights, gun violence prevention, and separation of religion and state. On the meeting, Durbin released … Continue Reading
February 21, 2025
Durbin Joins Introduction Of Legislation To Defund Implementation Of Trump's Unconstitutional Attempt To Eliminate Birthright Citizenship
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, joined U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) to introduce the Born in the USA Act to effectively block the implementation of President Trump’s unconstitutional Executive Order attempting to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States. This bill would prevent any government funds from being used to carry out or enforce this directive, which violates the U.S. … Continue Reading
January 22, 2025
Durbin Calls Out "Full, Complete, And Unconditional" Pardons Given by President Trump To January 6 Insurrectionists Who Violently Assaulted Police Officers
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, denounced President Trump’s decision to pardon January 6th insurrectionists, including those who violently assaulted law enforcement officers. In his remarks, Durbin read from an NPR article, describing in detail the crimes committed by the insurrectionists. “We should reflect on these pardons and the people who received them,” Durbin began. “‘[Here … Continue Reading
January 17, 2025
Durbin Statement On President Biden Recognizing Ratification Of The ERA
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after President Biden announced his position on the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which enshrines gender equality into the Constitution: “The Equal Rights Amendment is literally a century in the making, and over the years, generations of Americans have done their part to move it forward. They’ve marched on Washington, they’ve met with … Continue Reading
January 17, 2025
Durbin Statement On President Biden Commuting Sentences Of Nearly 2,500 Non-Violent Drug Offenders
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, released the following statement after President Joe Biden announced the commutation of nearly 2,500 people convicted of non-violent drug offenses: “I authored the Fair Sentencing Act and the First Step Act because I believe in second chances. Far too many incarcerated people are serving excessively long sentences for non-violent drug convictions, despite demonstrating good behavior … Continue Reading
January 15, 2025
Pam Bondi Associates With Extremists
Pam Bondi has a history of surrounding herself with many troubling individuals who have either been accused of various criminal wrongdoings or have made extreme statements disparaging opponents of Donald Trump, Democratic Party members, and Jewish people. Matt Schlapp was accused of groping a Republican campaign staffer without consent, which was later investigated along with two other incidents of sexual misconduct. Pam Bondi took to social media to defend Schlapp. Paula White is a … Continue Reading
January 14, 2025
Durbin Urges OPM To Approve Special Pay Rate For BOP Employees To Address Critical Staffing Shortages At BOP Facilities Nationwide
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today sent a letter to Rob Shriver, Acting Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), to request that OPM approve the Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) recently-transmitted special pay rate request for critical employees nationwide. “I write to request that the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) act swiftly to approve the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) recently … Continue Reading
January 13, 2025
Durbin Outlines Concerns Regarding Pam Bondi, Trump's Attorney General Pick, Ahead Of Nomination Hearing
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke on the Senate floor ahead of this week’s nomination hearing for President-elect Donald Trump’s Attorney General pick, Pam Bondi. The speech follows a meeting between Durbin and Bondi last week. Durbin began by underscoring the importance of the Attorney General’s role to the daily lives of the American people, saying: “The significance of the Attorney General cannot be … Continue Reading
December 17, 2024
Durbin Celebrates Sixth Anniversary Of The First Step Act On Senate Floor
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, celebrated the sixth anniversary of the First Step Act—bipartisan criminal justice reform legislation designed to make our justice system fairer and our communities safer by reforming sentencing laws and providing opportunities for those who are incarcerated to prepare to re-enter society successfully. The First Step Act was signed into law by then-President … Continue Reading
October 25, 2024
Durbin Applauds President Biden's Formal Apology To Native Communities For Federal Government's Role In Native American Boarding Schools
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today applauded President Biden’s formal apology for the U.S. government’s actions in establishing and running hundreds of Federal Indian Boarding Schools: “Today, President Biden is taking a major step forward in our nation’s reckoning with the deeply painful history of Native boarding school policies that caused irreparable damage to Native communities. The scars of these unjust, hateful actions—the federal government’s attempts to … Continue Reading
October 10, 2024
Durbin Joins 1908 Springfield Race Riot National Monument Commemoration
SPRINGFIELD - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) last night attended a ribbon cutting ceremony to designate the 1908 Springfield Race Riot site as a National Monument alongside U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13). This designation ensures the historic site will be preserved to tell the story of the Springfield Race Riot of 1908—a critical event in American history that spurred the creation of the National Association for the … Continue Reading
September 25, 2024
Durbin, Duckworth, Ramirez, Underwood Celebrate Senate Passage Of Resolution Honoring Wadee Alfayoumi
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, along with U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Representatives Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03) and Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14) celebrated Senate passage of a resolution honoring Wadee Alfayoumi, a six-year-old Palestinian American boy who was murdered as a victim of a hate crime in Plainfield, Illinois, on October 14, 2023. The lawmakers introduced the resolution earlier this year. “Wadee … Continue Reading
September 17, 2024
Durbin Questions Witnesses During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing On Stemming The Rise Of Hate Crimes
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today questioned witnesses during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “A Threat to Justice Everywhere: Stemming the Tide of Hate Crimes in America.” The hearing examined the threats facing marginalized communities and how the federal government can better protect the civil rights and safety of all Americans, including Jewish, Arab, and Muslim Americans. Building on the Committee’s … Continue Reading