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April 11, 2025Duckworth, Murkowski, Houlahan, Bacon Renew Bipartisan, Bicameral Push to Give Public Health Crisis Responders Essential Leave Benefits Enjoyed by All Other Uniformed Services
Today, combat Veteran and U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)—a member of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)—U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and U.S. Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA-06) and Don Bacon (R-NE-02) reintroduced bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would help expand leave benefits for the millions of devoted health professionals serving in the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps. Despite being responsible for leading our nation’s emergency resp… Continue Reading
April 11, 2025Duckworth Joins Cramer, Klobuchar, Colleagues in Introducing Bipartisan Legislation to Make Adoption Tax Credit Refundable
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) this week joined U.S. Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and 15 Senate colleagues in introducing bipartisan legislation to help ease the financial cost of adoption and support prospective and adoptive families. The Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act restores the refundable portion of the Adoption Tax Credit. By allowing the tax credit to be refundable, families will be able to access the full amount as a refund, even if the credit exceeds a … Continue Reading
April 11, 2025Duckworth, Durbin Join Introduction of Legislation to Increase Value of Tax Credits that Help Working Class Americans
U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) joined their Senate colleagues to introduce two bills, the American Family Act and the Tax Cut for Workers Act, aimed at expanding tax credits for American families. “When Democrats expanded the Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue Plan, we lifted millions of children out of poverty with the stroke of a pen, bringing child poverty rates to the lowest recorded levels in our history,” Duckworth said. “As co… Continue Reading
In The News
March 20, 2025For Veterans Fired by Trump, the Sense of Betrayal Runs Deep
Jacob Bushno has spent his entire adult life serving his country. He enlisted in the military straight out of high school. After two tours in Iraq as part of the Army’s air assault division, he transitioned into civilian service in the federal workforce. Last month, just seven days before finishing his one-year probationary period with the U.S. Forest Service, he was abruptly fired. This week, he was rehired. Like many of the thousands of federal workers caught in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump’s efforts to shrink the federal workforce, Bushno has spent the last few weeks frustrated and confused. But as a veteran, he views his treatment by the new Administration with a different lens. “I feel very betrayed. All I’ve done my whole life since getting out of high school was serve this country,” says Bushno, 40, who worked in the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. “I feel like, who's fighting for me, you know?” Bushno’s rehiring came after a federal judge on Monday ruled th… Continue Reading
March 19, 2025‘On the backs of veterans’: Senators rail against federal workforce purge as vets hit hard by cuts
— Marine Corps veteran Andrew Lennox was wrapping up his last day of online orientation as a newly hired administrative officer at Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System in Michigan, when his cell phone pinged alerting him to incoming email. As a supervisor in primary care services at the medical center run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the 35-year-old former staff sergeant certified staff hours, handled equipment purchases and reviewed performance evaluations. “I’ve loved my new job at the V… Continue Reading
March 10, 2025Democrats introduce bill forcing Trump administration to rehire fired veterans
Democrats want to force President Donald Trump's administration to rehire veterans who were laid off as part of large-scale efforts by Trump and Elon Musk to reshape the federal government and its workforce, ABC News has exclusively learned. Sens. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Andy Kim of New Jersey plan to introduce the Protect Veteran Jobs Act in the Senate on Monday. The bill would compel the Trump administration to reinstate veterans impacted by recent mass layoffs, according to a copy of… Continue Reading