In The News
A new crash test dummy that better resembles women gets key government endorsement
The U.S. government announced major design changes it wants to implement to make the female version of the vehicle crash test dummy more lifelike, potentially replacing a model used for decades that is based almost entirely around the body of a man despite higher injury risks for women. Department of Transportation officials will consider using the new dummy in the government’s vehicle crash test five-star ratings once a final rule is adopted, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Thursday … Continue Reading
November 19, 2025
Democratic senator accuses Trump of playing politics with aviation safety during shutdown
Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth suggested during a hearing Wednesday that the Trump administration was playing politics with the aviation system during the shutdown to force an agreement to reopen the government. Duckworth, of Illinois, zeroed in on why the Federal Aviation Administration and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy never shared the safety data they relied upon when they decided to order airlines to cut some of their flights at 40 busy airports near the end of the shutdown. She … Continue Reading
November 18, 2025
Democratic senators back bills to halt deportations of immigrant veterans, ease path to citizenship
A package of bills led by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., seeks to strengthen protections for immigrant veterans who have been deported or are in deportation proceedings. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) WASHINGTON — Democratic lawmakers on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee are backing a package of bills that would stop the deportation of immigrants who are veterans and make it easier for immigrants with military service to become U.S. citizens. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., an … Continue Reading
November 13, 2025
A final goodbye to a deported Chicago veteran
Last month, I got a call I’d feared since I started interviewing an Army combat veteran inside an immigration detention center in Wisconsin in 2017. The family of Miguel Perez Jr. told me he died unexpectedly in October while visiting family in Mexico. Miguel fought his deportation case for over a year before being deported in 2018. During President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown during his first term, Miguel’s was the lone immigration story I covered with a happy ending — coming back … Continue Reading
November 07, 2025
Sen. Tammy Duckworth calls again for urgent probe of federal agents' use of force in Chicago
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth sent another letter to the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Friday, saying there is not enough urgency in honoring her request for an investigation into use of force by federal immigration agents in Chicago. Duckworth sent her initial letter on Oct 17, calling for federal government watchdogs to launch an investigation into immigration agents' tactics in the Chicago area as part of Operation Midway Blitz. In this second letter, … Continue Reading
November 06, 2025
Duckworth pushes to boost veterans deportation protections
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is renewing a push for a package of bills aimed at protecting veterans and servicemembers from deportation, hoping that attention on the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign builds momentum for her legislation. On Thursday afternoon, Duckworth will reintroduce three bills that would prohibit deporting veterans who are not violent offenders, allow non-violent veterans who have been deported to temporarily reenter the United States to get care at the … Continue Reading
November 06, 2025
Sen. Duckworth demands end to 'secret detentions' of citizen protesters by FBI, calls for DOJ investigation
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate instances where U.S. citizens detained by federal immigration agents are held in FBI facilities for hours before ultimately being released. Duckworth called on FBI director Kash Patel to end the “secret detentions” and hand over all paperwork regarding the agency’s involvement in immigration enforcement and “Operation Midway Blitz,” according to a letter shared with the Sun-Times. The senator is also asking for … Continue Reading
October 30, 2025
DHS has Arrested people filming their agents, and Sens. Duckworth, Durbin say those arrests must stop
U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin are demanding federal immigration agents stop arresting people filming them. In a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the senators requested that she keep federal agents from arresting people exercising “a core First Amendment right.” “Failure to do so would be an admission that you are purposefully seeking to suppress free speech and impede government accountability through malicious, unlawful arrests intended to … Continue Reading
October 28, 2025
Democrats slam FCC’s decision to ‘gut’ prison phone call price caps
Senate Democrats are urging the Federal Communications Commission to enforce a rule that would lower the price of prison phone and video calls. In a letter led by Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), several Democrats, including Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), among others, criticize FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s efforts to “effectively gut” a final rule to implement a cap on exorbitant fees. The letter comes just hours before the … Continue Reading
October 24, 2025
Durbin, Duckworth blast Trump for playing ‘political games’ in denying Illinois disaster assistance
U.S. Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth on Friday urged President Donald Trump to stop playing “political games” with disaster assistance after the president this week denied disaster funding for Illinois. Trump on Wednesday approved major disaster declarations for Alaska, Nebraska, North Dakota and the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. But he also denied requests from Illinois, Maryland and Vermont. Several other states are awaiting decisions. Illinois and Maryland are led by Democratic … Continue Reading
October 24, 2025
Senators demand Linda McMahon ask DHS to stop immigration enforcement near schools
Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and at least a half a dozen other senators are calling on the U.S. Department of Education to pressure immigration authorities to refrain from carrying out immigration enforcement within 1,000 feet of any school property, citing recent classroom disruptions in the Chicago area. On Friday, they sent the letter, first provided to NBC News, to Education Secretary Linda McMahon, demanding that she step in and ask the Department of Homeland Security to curb its … Continue Reading
October 17, 2025
Sen. Tammy Duckworth calls for inspector general probe into federal agents’ tactics in Chicago immigration enforcement
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) is calling for federal government watchdogs to launch an investigation into immigration agents' tactics amid an ongoing enforcement operation in the Chicago area, citing "troubling patterns" of excessive force and unlawful arrests. Duckworth sent a letter to the inspectors general for the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security calling for a joint investigative task force into federal agents' use of force amid Operation Midway Blitz, and to … Continue Reading
October 10, 2025
Durbin, Duckworth denied access to Broadview ICE facility amid legal disputes
BROADVIEW - The Village of Broadview has reached an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to remove fencing that blocked a street outside an ICE detention facility by Tuesday night. The agreement was filed in court after a federal judge ruled in favor of Broadview officials, who argued the fencing was illegal. Four people were arrested on Friday in connection with protests in Broadview. What we know: Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson said her biggest concern was that the fence … Continue Reading
October 10, 2025
Duckworth, Durbin demand feds not use Chicago Harbor Lock on river as backdrop for social media videos
In a letter to top federal officials, U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin are demanding federal immigration officials stop using the Chicago Harbor Lock after armed agents took to the Chicago River to film videos for social media. In a letter obtained by the Sun-Times, the senators demanded Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem refrain from using the Chicago Harbor Lock “as a staging area to demonstrate force in pursuit of partisan ends instead of … Continue Reading
October 08, 2025
Trump’s domestic troop deployments betray our military and nation
One of the proudest moments of my life was the first time I ever laced up my boots, put on my uniform and raised my right hand to swear my oath to the Constitution as a member of the Illinois Army National Guard. I cherished every day that I got to wake up and call myself a United States soldier. And it is precisely because I love our military so deeply that I refuse to let a five-time draft-dodging coward abuse it for his own gain and to our country’s detriment. At Quantico last week, … Continue Reading
October 05, 2025
Duckworth slams Hegseth: ‘Military could not do its job’ without ‘the women who serve’
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) on Sunday went after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying the military “could not do its job” without “the women who serve.” “Well, this is the least qualified secretary of Defense in our nation’s history, and he’s questioning the ability of the women who actually qualified to their — to do their jobs. The female Rangers, the females that graduated from SEAL school, have met those highest standards,” Duckworth, an Army veteran, told CBS News’s Margaret Brennan … Continue Reading
October 05, 2025
Veteran Senator Shreds Hegseth For Trying to ‘Push Women Out of the Military’
Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) said the military “could not do its job” without “the women who serve” while taking aim at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s controversial speech about the impending revamp of the military under the Trump administration. “Well, this is the least qualified secretary of defense in our nation’s history, and he’s questioning the ability of the women who actually qualified to ... to do their jobs,” Duckworth, an Army veteran, said of Hegseth while appearing on CBS … Continue Reading
October 01, 2025
Duckworth says Hegseth's views on women in combat show he's unfit as Defense Secretary
Women veterans are denouncing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's speech to senior military leaders, specifically his agenda for military fitness. Hegseth told hundreds of military commanders at a hastily called gathering in Virginia that there would be new directives to ensure that the requirement for every position in combat "returns to the highest male standard." He said that "if that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it," while stressing that the military will continue to … Continue Reading
September 30, 2025
Sen. Duckworth on Hegseth's Quantico speech
President Trump defended the use of troops in U.S. cities while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told military commanders about new physical fitness and grooming requirements for uniformed personnel. President Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, both addressed hundreds of senior generals and admirals at a base outside of Washington, D.C., today. The meeting itself was highly unusual as military gatherings go, but the message was usual for the Trump administration. President Trump … Continue Reading
September 29, 2025
Democrats question ‘contingency plans’ for meeting of top US military leaders
Democratic Sens. Tammy Duckworth (Ill.) and Mazie Hirono (Hawaii) in a Saturday letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called for transparency regarding the meeting he will hold Tuesday with top military leaders. The meeting, first reported by The Washington Post, will include hundreds of generals and admirals stationed around the world. President Trump told NBC News on Sunday that he plans on attending the gathering at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va. Duckworth and Hirono, both … Continue Reading