Press Releases
Durbin, Illinois Delegation Members Send Letter To Protect Regional EPA Workers
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Representative Sean Casten (D-IL-06) led members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation in a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin urging him to reconsider reported plans to terminate more than 1,100 probationary EPA employees, including many based in Illinois. “We are deeply concerned about the negative impacts such terminations—done across the board without consideration for positional … Continue Reading
February 12, 2025
Durbin, Duckworth Meet With The Illinois Community College Trustees Association
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) yesterday met with the board members, presidents, staff, and students from the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA) to discuss improving access to higher education for Illinoisans. During their meeting, the Senators discussed the importance of federal student funding, including the Pell Grant and TRIO programs, for disadvantaged students. Durbin and Duckworth also pledged … Continue Reading
February 12, 2025
Durbin Delivers Speech At American Federation Of Government Employees Breakfast
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today delivered remarks at the American Federation of Government Employees’ (AFGE) annual legislative breakfast. Durbin’s speech comes in the wake of the Trump Administration’s concerted attack on federal agencies and employees. On January 28, the Trump Administration sent a “deferred resignation” offer to more than two million federal employees, claiming that if employees resigned by February 6, they could stay on the federal … Continue Reading
February 12, 2025
Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing For Justice Department Executive Nominees
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the nominations of Todd Blanche to be Deputy Attorney General (DAG), and Gail Slater to be Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division (AAG-Antitrust). Key Quotes: “President Trump has vowed to use the Justice Department to advance his own interests and to seek ‘retribution’ against ‘the … Continue Reading
February 12, 2025
Durbin Statement On Confirmation Of Tulsi Gabbard As Director Of National Intelligence
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after voting against the confirmation of Tulsi Gabbard, President Trump’s nominee for Director of National Intelligence: “Tulsi Gabbard is infamous for defending despots—including Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad—and traitors such as Edward Snowden. Her fondness for these oppressive, anti-democratic regimes does not go unreciprocated—they express fondness for her right back. Countries that do … Continue Reading
February 11, 2025
In Senate Floor Speech, Durbin Recounts Crimes Of Insurrectionists Pardoned By President Trump
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered remarks on the Senate floor detailing the crimes that January 6th insurrectionists have been charged with since President Trump’s reckless decision to pardon them for their crimes committed during the storming of the U.S. Capitol, including the violent assault on law enforcement officers. The events of that day resulted in the death of five law enforcement officers and … Continue Reading
February 11, 2025
Durbin Presses Zuckerberg On Meta's Role Directing Traffic To Problematic Nudify App
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pressed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his company’s role in directing traffic to Crushmate or Crush AI (“Crush”), an app used to create nonconsensual deepfake intimate imagery. Crush reportedly receives approximately 90 percent of its traffic from Meta platforms via thousands of explicit ads purchased by Crush in violation of Meta’s Advertising Standards, featuring nonconsensual nudity … Continue Reading
February 11, 2025
Durbin: Kash Patel Has Been Personally Directing The Ongoing Purge of FBI Officials
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, revealed that multiple whistleblowers have disclosed to Durbin’s staff highly credible information indicating that Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s pick to be Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has been personally directing the ongoing purge of senior law enforcement officials at the FBI. Earlier today, Durbin sent a letter to … Continue Reading
February 11, 2025
Durbin Speaks Out Against Attorney General Bondi's Actions To Weaponize DOJ
WASHINGTON - In a speech on the Senate floor, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, spoke out against Attorney General Pam Bondi forher work to undermine the integrity and credibility of the Department of Justice, including creating a so-called “Weaponization Working Group,” a task force to investigate “the activities of all departments and agencies exercising civil or criminal enforcement authority of the United States over the last … Continue Reading
February 11, 2025
Durbin Statement On President Trump's Pardon Of Former Gov. Blagojevich
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today released the following statement after President Donald Trump pardoned former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, amid speculation that Blagojevich is in consideration for an ambassadorship. President Trump commuted Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence in February 2020. “In a state with more than its fair share of public corruption, the Blagojevich chapter still looms as one of the worst. America and Serbia deserve … Continue Reading
February 11, 2025
Durbin Presses Zuckerberg On Meta's Role Directing Traffic To Problematic Nudify App
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, pressed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on his company’s role in directing traffic to Crushmate or Crush AI (“Crush”), an app used to create nonconsensual deepfake intimate imagery. Crush reportedly receives approximately 90 percent of its traffic from Meta platforms via thousands of explicit ads purchased by Crush in violation of Meta’s Advertising Standards, featuring nonconsensual nudity … Continue Reading
February 10, 2025
Durbin Discusses Harmful Impact of Trump's Tariffs On Local Small Businesses
CHICAGO—U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today joined local small business owners at Hop Butcher For The World to discuss the potential impact of President Trump’s proposed tariffs on imports and exports from Mexico and Canada. In 2023, Illinois, which ranks first among the 50 states in imports from Canada, exported a total of $20.55 billion in products to Canada. Additionally, Illinois exports to Mexico in 2023 totaled $12.93 billion. “The tariffs proposed by President Trump … Continue Reading
February 10, 2025
Durbin, Lankford Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Support Rural Hospitals
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the bipartisan Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act, which would support financially vulnerable rural hospitals facing risk of closure. The legislation would update Medicare’s “Critical Access Hospital” (CAH) designation so more rural hospitals can qualify for this financial lifeline and continue to serve their communities with quality, affordable health care services. Small and … Continue Reading
February 10, 2025
Durbin, Lankford Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Support Rural Hospitals
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) introduced the bipartisan Rural Hospital Closure Relief Act, which would support financially vulnerable rural hospitals facing risk of closure. The legislation would update Medicare’s “Critical Access Hospital” (CAH) designation so more rural hospitals can qualify for this financial lifeline and continue to serve their communities with quality, affordable health care services. Small and … Continue Reading
February 10, 2025
Durbin Warns Defense Secretary Hegseth Against Politicization Of U.S. Military After Numerous Concerning Actions By Trump Administration
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense (SACD), yesterday sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to warn him against the politicization of the Department of Defense (DoD). Durbin’s letter comes after several thinly-veiled political orders by the Trump Administration related to the nation’s military, including removing protection from former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, … Continue Reading
February 07, 2025
Durbin, Marshall Draw FDA Attention To Misleading Drug Commercial Set To Run During Super Bowl
CHICAGO - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. (R-KS) today sent a bipartisan letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to draw the agency’s attention to an upcoming pharmaceutical advertisement that is slated to air during the Super Bowl on Sunday to more than 120 million Americans, which misleads patients by omitting any safety or side effect information when promoting a specific type of weight loss medication. FDA regulates … Continue Reading
February 07, 2025
Durbin, Duckworth Join Colleagues To Demand Answers About Trump's Efforts To Restrict & Undermine NSF-Funded Scientific Research
WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), along with 22 of their colleagues, in sounding the alarm over the Trump Administration injecting partisanship into scientific studies, obstructing critical research, potentially derailing the careers of promising American researchers, and attempting to undermine the U.S. scientific research ecosystem. With several major sources of federal research … Continue Reading
February 06, 2025
Durbin, Grassley Baltic Foreign Ministers To Discuss Increased Russian Aggresion
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Co-Chairs of the Senate Baltic Freedom Caucus, met today with Baltic Foreign Ministers and their ambassadors. During the meeting, they discussed the increase in Russian hybrid attacks in the Baltics and across Europe, and the need to maintain allied support for Ukraine and NATO. The meeting comes not long after Finland seized a Russian shadow fleet ship suspected of destroying an energy cable … Continue Reading
February 06, 2025
Durbin, Schneider, Olszewski Introduce Bill To Reduce Gun Violence From Stolen Firearms
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and U.S. Representatives Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) and Johnny Olszewski (D-MD-2) today introduced bicameral legislation aimed at reducing gun violence by preventing the theft of firearms from federally-licensed gun dealers (FFLs). The Safety Enhancements for Communities Using Reasonable and Effective (SECURE) Firearm Storage Act would address the problem of “smash and grab” gun store … Continue Reading
February 06, 2025
Durbin Delivers Opening Statement During Senate Judiciary Committee Executive Meeting On Kash Patel's Nomination To Be FBI Director
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today delivered an opening statement during a Senate Judiciary Committee executive business meeting regarding the nomination of Kash Patel, President Trump’s pick to lead the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Judiciary Democrats held Mr. Patel’s nomination over for one week per Committee rules. Key Quotes: “This is an extraordinary nomination—the Kash Patel nomination… There … Continue Reading