In The News

May 16, 2025

Sen. Duckworth criticizes Trump's plans to accept new plane from Qatar and cut staff at the VA

by Ben Howell

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth spoke Friday on several recent developments concerning the Trump administration, including President Trump’s plan to accept a Boeing jet from Qatar and recent moves on aviation and veterans programs. The royal family of Qatar offered to give a jet to Trump, which he would use as the new Air Force One and then take with him once his term ends. Trump said he would put the jet at his future presidential library and it would not be for personal use. Duckworth was not a … Continue Reading


May 15, 2025

Chinese faucets recalled over potential chemical hazards

by Kayla Steinberg and Vicky Nguyen
Source: NBC News

The federal government is warning Americans not to buy cheap knockoff faucets online that could leach harmful chemicals and heavy metals into their drinking water. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said Wednesday that it’s recalling four Chinese-made faucets sold on Amazon over unsafe levels of lead exposure. It said the lead can be especially harmful for babies, young children and pregnant women. The recalls come after American faucet brand Moen noticed cheap foreign-made faucets for … Continue Reading


May 15, 2025

Democrats question Hegseth on Trump’s Qatar jet security risks

by Sophia Vento
Source: The Hill

Several Democratic senators are questioning Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth over President Trump’s acceptance of a jet from Qatar, stressing in a letter the national security risks and counterintelligence concerns inherent in such a transaction. “The American people deserve to understand this administration’s plans for securing this aircraft, the vulnerabilities its use will present to our national security and the price tag they will be asked to pay for President Trump’s decision to integrate … Continue Reading


May 07, 2025

Veterans Crisis Line Employees Were Caught in Mass Firings. A New Bill Aims for Staff Protections

by Rebecca Kheel

Firing Veterans Crisis Line employees would trigger notifications to Congress under a bill being introduced by a Democratic senator aiming to give those employees more protections against being terminated. The bill comes after the Department of Veterans Affairs acknowledged in a letter to senators last month that 24 support employees at the suicide helpline were "erroneously" told they were being let go during mass Trump administration firings at the beginning of the year. The VA sent the … Continue Reading


May 07, 2025

Duckworth announces legislation protecting VA jobs

by Sarah Fortinsky
Source: The Hill

May 04, 2025

Sen. Tammy Duckworth says Mike Waltz will have a "brutal hearing" for U.N. ambassador

by Kaia Hubbard
Source: CBS News

  Washington — Sen. Tammy Duckworth said Sunday that she expects Mike Waltz to have a "brutal hearing" for U.N. ambassador after his surprise departure last week from his post as President Trump's national security adviser. "He's not qualified for the job, just by nature of the fact that he participated in this Signal chain," Duckworth, an Illinois Democrat, said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan."  Duckworth argued that everyone in the group chat where the timing and targets of … Continue Reading


April 29, 2025

Duckworth: Trump making Americans weaker, sicker, less secure

by Heidi Knecht

DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) - One hundred days into Trump’s second term lawmakers are split on where the country is headed. Illinois Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth said in Trump’s first 100 days he made Americans weaker, sicker and less secure. “Middle-class families, service members, veterans are all paying the price for his disastrous policies. Not only are grocery prices high, but we’re also seeing that all the veterans that he’s fired from their jobs, all the federal workers, have been fired … Continue Reading


April 22, 2025

Senate Democrats press Hegseth for answers on Trump order to ban transgender troops

by Elena Moore
Source: NPR

More than a dozen Senate Democrats have signed onto a letter demanding a status update from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over the military's treatment of transgender servicemembers. The letter, drafted by Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., and first obtained by NPR, calls for Hegseth to explain to lawmakers how the Pentagon is complying with two separate federal court rulings blocking President Trump's executive order attempting to ban transgender troops from military service. Duckworth, an … Continue Reading


April 21, 2025

Duckworth: Hegseth endangering troops with ‘singular stupidity’

by Sarah Fortinsky
Source: THE HILL

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot and combat veteran, said Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s “singular stupidity” is putting troops in harm’s way and demanded his resignation — after a new report alleges the secretary shared detailed military plans in a group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer. “How many times does Pete Hegseth need to leak classified intelligence before Donald Trump and Republicans understand that he isn’t only a … Continue Reading


April 17, 2025

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth hammers President Donald Trump over veterans’ care in 'The Daily Show' interview

by Isabel Nieto

U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, put jokes aside when she appeared on the political satire The Daily Show this week as she criticized the Trump administration’s treatment of veterans. The Trump administration last month sent out a memo that revealed plans for a reorganization of the Department of Veterans Affairs which included cutting more than 80,000 jobs. Duckworth, who herself is a veteran who served in the Iraq War, said the cuts would impact health care for veterans and their … Continue Reading


April 15, 2025

“It’s My Turn on the Line”

by MIKE THOMS
Source: FOX NEWS

When she spoke to Chicago in late March, a couple of months into the second Trump administration, U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth was frank about her state of mind. “I’ve been having a hard time,” she said. “I keep being disappointed by people that I thought would stand up.” But disappointment does not equal resignation. The former army pilot is first and foremost a soldier, and her commitment to the so-called warrior ethos — to always placing the mission first and to never accepting defeat, … Continue Reading


April 13, 2025

Why Trump's pattern of purging our highest-performing military officers is dangerous

by Senator Tammy Duckworth
Source: FOX NEWS

"Our standards will be high, uncompromising and clear." --Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s Message to the Force, January 25, 2025 President Donald Trump’s pick for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine (retired), possesses an extraordinary record of service—in Iraq, in special access programs and in the National Guard. There is no question of his capacity to lead, devotion to our country, character, courage or competence. But those aren’t the qualifications … Continue Reading


April 11, 2025

Public Health Service officers would receive military leave benefits under bipartisan bill

by Sean Michael Newhouse

Commissioned officers of the U.S. Public Health Service and their beneficiaries could be eligible for expanded leave benefits under a bicameral bill that Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., is reintroducing — this time with bipartisan support in the Senate and House.   “I just think that people don't understand what the Public Health Service does,” Duckworth said in an interview with Government Executive. “They are a uniform service. They are the people that when there's a disaster, when there's a … Continue Reading


April 07, 2025

St. Clair County members talk farm bill, E15 with Duckworth

by TAMMIE SLOUP
Source: FARMWEEK

St. Clair County Farm Bureau members recently met with U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth to discuss pressing issues including the need for a farm bill, Proposition 12 fix, year-round E15 and expansion of ag trade markets. “One of the most immediate things that we can do that is already well on its way is the year-round sale of E15,” Duckworth, D-Hoffman Estates, told RFD Radio Network’s Jim Taylor following the March 30 meeting. She discussed her work with Sen. Debbie Fischer, R-Neb., on getting … Continue Reading


April 01, 2025

Democrats renew push to expand IVF access for military service members

by Allison Pecorin
Source: ABC NEWS

Congressional Democrats are renewing their push to expand in vitro fertilization access for military service members by introducing legislation that would require the Department of Defense's health care program to fund access to IVF for military service members. The legislative effort, being led in the Senate by Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth and in the House by Democratic Rep. Sara Jacobs, would bring IVF access afforded to military service members in parity with the services available to … Continue Reading


March 27, 2025

Illinois U.S. senators take Hegseth, other Trump admin. members to task for group chat on military strikes

by Adam Harrington, Sara Machi
Source: CBS NEWS

Both U.S. senators and two members of Congress from Illinois on Wednesday lambasted the Trump administration, and in particular Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, over a group chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal that included sensitive details about military strikes in Yemen. White House national security adviser Mike Waltz inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic magazine, to the chat. Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday called the chats … Continue Reading


March 26, 2025

More Lawmakers Call For Hegseth’s Resignation as Signal Scandal Intensifies

by Nik Popli
Source: TIMES

New revelations regarding the disclosure of sensitive military information in an unsecured messaging app by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amplified calls for his resignation on Wednesday, as fallout over the scandal continued for a third day. "Hegseth is doing a great job, he had nothing to do with this,” Trump told reporters late Wednesday, hours after The Atlantic published more of the transcripts from a Signal group chat that included Hegseth, other top Trump officials, and journalist … Continue Reading


March 25, 2025

Pritzker, Duckworth call on Pete Hegseth to resign after group chat controversy

by NBC Chicago Staff

Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Gov. J.B. Pritzker have both called on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign after a reporter was included in a text chain detailing plans for an offensive strike against Yemen. Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg was reportedly included in that chain, in which several key figures in the Trump administration detailed plans for strikes against Yemen before they were carried out earlier this month. Vice President J.D. Vance, Secretary of State … Continue Reading


March 20, 2025

Lawmakers Demand Trump Administration Restore Removed Webpages Celebrating Troops

by Drew F. Lawrence

A group of Senate Democrats will be sending a letter Thursday demanding that President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reverse recent policies "that seek to erase records of the historic accomplishments of our troops" amid the administration's removal of online material about women, minority and LGBTQ+ service members and veterans. The four lawmakers signed onto the letter are Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois; Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut; and Mark Kelly and Ruben … Continue Reading


March 20, 2025

For Veterans Fired by Trump, the Sense of Betrayal Runs Deep

by Nik Popli
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