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As news stories generally go, the retirement of a longtime member of Congress typically causes barely a ripple in the pool of politics. Unless the personage was a major power player or notorious for some other reason, our system of government treats the coming and going of most elected officials with only a modicum of interest. So it is likely to be with Senator Richard Durbin, Democrat of Illinois, who, having served seven terms in the House of Representatives and five in the Senate, announced he is retiring at the end of next year. The senator’s record in the overall...

The Philippines has banned two U.S. lawmakers from visiting and will introduce tighter entry restrictions for U.S. citizens should Washington enforce sanctions over the detention of a top government critic, the president's spokesman said on Friday. President Rodrigo Duterte will impose a requirement on U.S. nationals to get visas should any Philippine officials involved in the incarceration of Senator Leila de Lima be denied entry to the United States, as sought by U.S. senators Richard Durbin and Patrick Leahy. Duterte's move comes after the U.S. Congress approved a 2020 budget that contains a provision introduced by the senators against anyone...

WALLACE: ...in October of 2002 in which you authorized the use of force, you went further than the president ever did. Let's watch:(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)ROCKEFELLER: I do believe that Iraq poses an imminent threat, but I also believe that after September 11th that question is increasingly outdated.(END VIDEO CLIP)WALLACE: Now, the president never said that Saddam Hussein was an imminent threat. As you saw, you did say that. If anyone hyped the intelligence, isn't it Jay Rockefeller?ROCKEFELLER: No. I mean, this question is asked a thousand times and I'll be happy to answer it a thousand times. I took a...

[...] Many Indians have been imported to take high-tech jobs throughout Durbin’s home state of Illinois. On October 10, roughly 600 of these imported workers turned out to demand passage of Lee’s green card giveaway bill, which is dubbed by advocates the “Fairness for High Skilled Immigrants Act.” Advocates claimed a turnout of 5,000, but the video shows roughly 600 marchers [...] Companies have imported roughly 35,000 H-1B workers into Durbin’s Illinois, along with thousands of additional L-1, OPT, and H4EAD workers. Roughly 75 percent of these visa workers are hired in India for a wide variety of U.S. jobs,...

In 2017, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) accused President Trump of showing “a disdain for an independent judiciary that doesn’t always bend to his wishes” after Trump criticized a judge who ruled against his administration. Senate Democrats, by contrast, have launched an unprecedented attempt to actually bend the Supreme Court to their wishes — threatening to restructure the court if the justices do not rule as they see fit. The threat came over the Supreme Court’s decision to hear a challenge to New York City’s restrictions on how gun owners who have residential permits can transport their guns. In...

Several high-profile Senate Democrats warned the Supreme Court in pointed terms this week that it could face a fundamental restructuring if justices do not take steps to "heal" the court in the near future. The ominous and unusual warning was delivered as part of a brief filed Monday in a case related to a New York City gun law. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., referenced rulings by the court's conservative majority in claiming it is suffering from some sort of affliction which must be remedied. "The Supreme Court...

Several high-profile Senate Democrats warned the Supreme Court in pointed terms this week that it could face a fundamental restructuring if justices do not take steps to "heal" the court in the near future. The ominous and unusual warning was delivered as part of a brief filed Monday in a case related to a New York City gun law. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Richard Durbin, D-Ill., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., referenced rulings by the court's conservative majority in claiming it is suffering from some sort of affliction which must be remedied. "The Supreme Court...

President Donald Trump’s decision to delay a small-scale deportation operation has created an opening for Sen. Lindsey Graham’s push to swap an amnesty for border reforms, say pro-immigration reformers. Graham already “is negotiating with [Democratic Sen. Richard] Durbin — [and] he’s not pulling the Republicans together” to present a united front, said Jessica Vaughan, policy director at the Center for Immigration Studies. On June 19, for example, Graham told Democratic Senators at a committee meeting that he is willing to trade an amnesty to get a border fixes. “I am willing to deal with DACA [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals]...

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina on Sunday said a deal that combines $5 billion for President Trump’s border wall with an extension of legal status for “Dreamers” and people fleeing conflict or natural disasters back home could “save the day in the Senate” and reopen the government. “We need to start talking again,” the Republican told CNN’s State of the Union. “To my Democratic friends: There will never be a deal without wall funding.” He said in return, immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children should be eligible for legal status and authorization to work for three years...

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Sunday that President Trump is "open-minded" but non-committal about a potential deal that would include border security funding and offer protections for young immigrants that he has floated to resolve the ongoing government shutdown. Graham said Trump remained adamant that any agreement must include money for the president's desired wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Graham told reporters outside the White House that he spoke with Trump about a possible arrangement that would include $5 billion for border security, renewable work permits for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and visas for...

According to a letter written by Senator Richard Durbin (IL), the FBI’s internal review of its counterterrorism training materials uncovered a PowerPoint presentation that taught FBI agents that “Under certain circumstances, the FBI has the ability to bend or suspend the law to impinge on the freedom of others.”

Many advocates for revamping immigration laws have tried to coax Congress into action over the years, but a particularly powerful one will be arriving next month: Pope Francis. Lawmakers and immigration activists expect the pontiff’s message will resonate beyond Capitol Hill and inspire members of Congress and their constituents. The pope's U.S. schedule includes an address to Congress on Sept. 24 and a meeting two days later with immigrants and Hispanic families at Philadelphia’s Independence Mall. “He’s been clear on our failure to respond appropriately to immigrants and refugees,” Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., told CQ. “I don’t think anyone will...

Senator Ted Cruz, the boat-rocking limited government constitutional conservative Senator from Texas, provided another one of his patented cross examinations of a smoke-blowing government official at a recent Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Cruz, the son of legal immigrants from Cuba, asked Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano about border security measures – the so-called “triggers” – contained in the “Gang of Eight's” immigration bill. Specifically, Senator Cruz asked, “If there are no objective metrics, if it is simply the subjective assessment of a host of factors, how can we have any confidence that the border will be secured and that any...

Suddenly everyone in Washington wants a gas tax hike — apparently so that consumers don’t save too much money at the pump. As prices keep falling, the politicians and the moochers in Washington want a piece of the action. Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois and even Republicans such as Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee have linked arms with the entire road-building industry and green groups that want the cost of fuel to go up.Mrs. Pelosi won’t even hide her cynical motivation: With gas prices low, maybe motorists won’t notice that we’re gouging them: “If there’s...

"If these negotiations [with Iran] fail, there are two grim alternatives," said Sen. Richard Durbin, "a nuclear Iran, or war, or perhaps both." Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham returned from the Munich security conference saying that even John Kerry agrees that President Obama's Syrian policy has failed. They are urging another look at air strikes. North Korea is warning that should the annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises go forward in March, it could mean war, possibly nuclear war. Philippines President Benigno Aquino III this week compared his country's situation to Czechoslovakia in 1938, and the disputed islets off his...

A group of pro-immigrant activists in Chicago on Tuesday released an informational video warning about the possible dangers of deferred action, which on Wednesday will begin to register undocumented young people who want to try and postpone deportation. The video, “Defer the Bulls—t,” may be seen online at www.moratoriumondeportations.org and is an effort to resist the government’s alleged disinformation campaign about the program. “While some youth may have a chance at relief, Deferred Action is at best insufficient, and at worst misleading, dangerous and deliberately deceptive,” said Jose Herrera of the Moratorium on Deportations Campaign on Tuesday. Some 20 members...

At a breakfast fund-raiser last year at the Liaison Capitol Hill hotel, former lobbyist Paul Equale pulled up a chair next to Sen. Richard Durbin. As they chatted, the Illinois Democrat told him about a recent breakthrough in his efforts to push through a bill to cap debit-card fees. At a breakfast fund-raiser last year at the Liaison Capitol Hill hotel, former lobbyist Paul Equale pulled up a chair next to Sen. Richard Durbin. As they chatted, the Illinois Democrat told him about a recent breakthrough in his efforts to push through a bill to cap debit-card fees. Some investment...

U.S. Rep. William Delahunt blew nearly $560,000 in campaign cash last year - much of it on lavish meals and a family-friendly payroll that includes his ex-wife, son-in-law and daughter - stoking speculation the Quincy Democrat is emptying his war chest and won’t seek re-election. -snip- Delahunt told the Herald last week that he was still weighing whether to seek re-election, but Democratic Party sources have privately indicated his departure is anticipated - and expected to draw a host of candidates-in-waiting out of the woodwork.

Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin admitted Friday that he is "in the dark" about the national health care bill currently under construction by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In an exchange on the Senate floor, Republican Sen. John McCain asked Durbin, "Should we not at least be informed as to what the proposal is that the Senate Majority Leader is going to propose to the entire Senate?" Durbin's answer: "I would say to the senator from Arizona that I am in the dark almost as much as he is, and I am in the leadership." Durbin explained that during a...

While it was with a certain sense of satisfaction that I listened to President Bush describe some of the details of how we have dealt with these high level Islamic terrorists and how this has led to the uncovering and the shutting down of some terrifying terrorist plots, his speech renewed the outrage I have felt with liberal members of the Supreme Court and their cohorts in Congress and in the press.