Durbin defends shutdown vote, says it wasn’t coordinated with Schumer
[November 14, 2025]
By Brenden Moore
SPRINGFIELD — Saying that he could not justify “playing with other
people’s lives” as millions of Americans went without their paychecks
and benefits, Sen. Dick Durbin on Thursday defended his vote to reopen
the government earlier this week after a record-long federal government
shutdown that stretched more than seven weeks.
“I think that is the crudest form of political weapon that I can imagine
— and that’s why I came to the conclusion that we had tried to find a
bipartisan agreement, and we reached it,” Durbin said following an
unrelated event in Springfield.
Durbin was one of eight members of the Senate Democratic caucus who
joined Republicans in advancing the deal, providing the votes needed to
break a filibuster. The measure passed Congress and was signed by
President Donald Trump on Wednesday.
Democratic defectors touted the securing of a full year of Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program funding, the reversal of shutdown-related
layoffs, and the promise of a vote on extending enhanced Affordable Care
Act tax credits.
Democrats refused for weeks to vote for government funding bills without
an extension of the enhanced credits, which are currently set to expire
at the end of the year. If they do, health insurance premiums are
expected to skyrocket.
Durbin acknowledged that “it remains to be seen whether the Republicans
will live up to” the agreement. But after a conversation on the Senate
floor with Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, he expressed
confidence that they would.
“I said, ‘John, I’m sticking my head down for this agreement. I want you
to keep your word,’” Durbin recalled. “And he said, ‘I will.’ I’m gonna
hold him to it. I think he will.”
Durbin’s faith in his Republican colleagues has been harshly criticized
by many Illinois Democrats, including Gov. JB Pritzker and the
candidates vying to succeed him in the Senate.
Pritzker and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton — one of the Senate candidates —
in separate statements called the assurance of a vote on ACA tax credits
“an empty promise.”
Schumer ‘not happy’
Durbin is the No. 2 Senate Democrat, leading many to speculate that he
wouldn’t have joined the effort without the blessing of the party’s
leader, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York, who voted
against the measure but has nevertheless taken heat from the Democratic
base for its passage.
Two of the Senate Democrats who voted for the measure, including Durbin,
are retiring and the other six aren’t up for reelection until either
2028 or 2030, thus insulating them from backlash and perhaps freeing
them to take a politically tough vote that some of their colleagues
could not.
Still, it’s unusual for a member of leadership to break the party line.
Durbin told reporters that his vote was not coordinated with or
orchestrated by Schumer, a longtime friend who he shared a Washington
D.C. apartment with for two decades.
“He was not happy with my decision,” Durbin said. “He was disappointed
and told me as much, and he asked me to change my mind. I said, ‘I’m not
going to do that, I just wanted to give you the benefit of knowing what
I’m thinking.’ Yes, he opposed what I did and the others involved in it.
But I did what I thought was right.”
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U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin speaks to reporters in Springfield on
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Brenden
Moore)
Hemp ban tucked into bill
Also tucked into the legislation was a provision banning the sale of
intoxicating hemp products — a move that could upend an industry with
annual sales now into the billions.
Hemp was federally legalized under the 2018 Farm Bill, which defined it
as a plant with less than 0.3% delta-9 THC. But the law didn’t account
for total THC or other cannabinoids, creating a loophole that allowed
companies to use compounds like delta-8 to make products with
marijuana-like intoxicating effects. As a result, hemp-derived
intoxicants have proliferated in gas stations, corner stores and other
places with little to no regulation.
An amendment seeking to remove the language from the larger bill,
proposed by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, was rejected in a 76-24 vote.
Durbin and Sen. Tammy Duckworth voted with the majority.
Durbin said the hemp language was proposed by Sen. Mitch McConnell,
R-Kentucky.
“Throughout my career, I’ve tried my best to protect children,” Durbin
said. “He asked for further regulation of the industry to make sure
their products being sold at service stations and such weren’t dangerous
to kids. That’s not too much to ask. I supported his position.”
Though he opposed the bill on the whole, the hemp provision hands
Pritzker an indirect political win. Illinois’ governor earlier this year
pushed in vain for legislation that would have limited the sale of
delta-8 and other hemp-derived intoxicants to state-licensed cannabis
dispensaries. But House Speaker Chris Welch, D-Hillside, did not call it
for a vote, claiming it did not have the support of 60 House Democrats.
“In the absence of action in Springfield, Governor Pritzker supports
policies to protect people, including children, from being misinformed
or harmed by these products,” a Pritzker spokesperson said.
Pritzker further told reporters after an unrelated event in Chicago on
Thursday that “we’re going to have to look at how we might regulate”
hemp “now that we see that the federal government is limiting it.”
“The goal here is to keep our children safe,” Pritzker said. “That
really is my number one goal about regulating intoxicating hemp — and
when it’s available everywhere, and it’s got names like Skittlez with a
‘Z’ on the end, and it looks the same as Skittles the candy, it’s just
not right.”
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