Politics
Duckworth Slams Fellow Democrats Over Continuing Resolution Vote; Hits Republicans Over Group Chat Intelligence Breach
U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois) slammed her own party leader in the Senate, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and other Senate Democrats for voting with Republicans to keep the government open earlier this month.
In an interview with WTTW News’ “Chicago Tonight” on Tuesday, Duckworth lambasted Schumer (D-New York) and other Senate Democrats who joined with Republicans to support a continuing resolution that kept the government functioning as many Democrats were pushing for a shutdown.
“I was furious with Leader Schumer, and I told him we needed to go and fight,” said Duckworth. “I could not disagree with Leader Schumer more. We should have stood up to the Republicans. It was a minority of Democrats who voted for it. I am appalled that we basically gave Donald Trump permission to basically continue to raid government.”
Duckworth said President Donald Trump was looking to cut benefits for veterans, seniors and people with disabilities “so that he can fund tax cuts for billionaires.”
“If they (the Trump administration) want to look for government efficiencies, I’m happy to work with them,” said Duckworth.
But she noted that Republicans — notably Elon Musk — have already called Social Security a Ponzi scheme and that there are plans to cut 80,000 jobs at the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“They are funding tax cuts for their billionaire buddies on the backs of middle-class Americans, and what Democrats — those handful of Democrats, including led by Leader Schumer — did was to give them permission to do that, and I could not disagree with him more.”
Duckworth also addressed shocking revelations that details of an imminent attack on Yemen were accidentally shared with a journalist from The Atlantic magazine over the commercial encrypted messaging app Signal.
“The protocol when there’s a security breach like this is very clear across government and especially clear in the Department of Defense,” Duckworth said. “Every single official on that Signal chain needs to hand over their electronic devices so that it can be investigated. Frankly, this is an egregious breach of national security that put our servicemen and women’s lives on the line in danger. Those pilots flying there with that mission that he has shared the sequencing data and the timing of when that mission was going to happen, those lives were put into danger when he did that.”
Duckworth previously called U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth unqualified to lead the Defense Department and said he should either step down or be fired.
The apparently lax treatment of national security secrets by the Trump administration is also likely to have allies questioning just how much intelligence they should share with the United States, said Duckworth.
“I think they’re horrified,” said Duckworth. “And I can tell you right now that they are reconsidering whether or not they will share future intelligence with us, which then puts the lives of men and women in uniform for our great nation in danger in the future because we will not have the full intelligence picture.”
Duckworth was also critical of the Trump administration’s apparently weakening support for Ukraine in its fight to resist Russian aggression.
“It’s very clear that Putin owns Donald Trump,” Duckworth said. “Donald Trump has bowed down and is kissing Putin’s feet, and he loves Russia as opposed to being somebody who is leading the greatest democracy on the face of the Earth, the United States of America, that should be opposed to Russia. Russia invaded Ukraine. We need to stand up and stop Russia from continuing with this offensive in Ukraine and remember that if Ukraine falls, the next countries in the line of fire as far as Russia is concerned, are NATO allies.”
Any attack on a NATO ally would trigger Article 5 of the NATO treaty calling for mutual defense.
“Donald Trump is putting American service members further on the line because we will be called into action if Russia steps beyond Ukraine,” said Duckworth. “The people of Ukraine have been valiant in their fight. … They are fighting for their nation, but it’s more than just about Ukraine. It is about the freedom of the world. It is about the security of Europe, which also is important to America’s national security.”
