The race to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin is heating up. U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly joined “Chicago Tonight” to discuss the changes coming to Illinois politics and her candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was meeting last week with representatives from a teachers union when things quickly devolved. Before long, Fetterman began repeating himself, shouting and questioning why “everybody is mad at me."

There promises to be nothing boring about the Illinois race to replace U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, who will retire in 2027 after 30 years in office.

“For too long, the middle class has been centered on the campaign trail but sidelined when it comes to real governance,” newly announced U.S. Senate candidate Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton said.

Standing on his backyard deck Thursday – the same place where he declared his 1996 candidacy for U.S. Senate – Illinois’ senior Sen. Dick Durbin reflected on his decision to retire after four decades in Congress.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin announced Wednesday he will not seek a sixth term in the U.S. Senate, setting off a scramble for a rare open seat that will reshape Illinois politics.

Chicago has a new interim top federal prosecutor as Andrew Boutros took his oath of office and was sworn in Monday as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker took to the Senate floor on Monday evening, saying he would remain there as long as he was “physically able.” More than 24 hours later, the 55-year-old senator, a former football tight end, was still going.

Sen. Roger Wicker, the Republican chair of the committee, and Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat, signed onto a letter to the acting inspector general at the Department of Defense for an inquiry into the potential “use of unclassified networks to discuss sensitive and classified information, as well as the sharing of such information with those who do not have proper clearance and need to know.”

After Sen. Chuck Schumer announced Thursday that he would reluctantly support the bill, he bore the brunt of that anger, including a protest at his office, calls from progressives that he be primaried in 2028 and suggestions that the Democratic Party would soon be looking for new leaders.

The 66-year-old’s unexpected decision Tuesday to step aside after just two terms comes as a surprise and poses a challenge for Democrats in Michigan during a turbulent period, likely dividing their strong bench between the gubernatorial and Senate races in 2026.

The U.S. Senate has approved the reauthorization through 2031 of a federal program that provides crucial funding for restoration and protection of Great Lakes ecosystems. Now it’s up to the U.S. House to do the same.

Chuck Schumer faced no opposition in the party leadership elections, in which Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin was also reelected to the No. 2 spot and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar became the new No. 3. 

As President-elect Donald Trump moves to set up a more forceful presidency than in his first term, he is choosing loyalists for his Cabinet and considering a tool known as recess appointments to skip over Senate confirmations for even some of the most powerful positions in U.S. government.

President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet choices are provoking backlash from the two Illinois Democrats whose positions give them power to take part in approving, or denying, Cabinet appointments.

A unified Republican grip on Washington would set the course for Trump’s agenda. Or if Democrats wrest control of the House, it would provide an almost certain backstop, with veto power over the White House.