…Sen #DickDurbin, who is in his fifth #Senate term, said it was not an easy choice to step away from his prime perch doing battle with #Trump, whom he considers a dire #threat to #democracy. He described moments in recent days “where I thought, ‘Man, I don’t want to miss this fight.’”

“But you know,” he continued, “I have to be honest about this. There are good people in the wings, good people on the bench ready to serve, & they can fight this fight just as effectively as I can.…”

#law #USpol

#Durbin’s departure will reverberate in the #Senate, where he played a prominent role on a host of big issues & was considered a forceful advocate of party positions. He was among the first to push for a path to #citizenship for some #undocumented immigrants brought to the #UnitedStates illegally as children, a group that came to be known as #Dreamers that became the focal point of successive failed efforts to overhaul #immigration laws.

#law #legislation #LegislativeBranch #democracy #USpol

…A longtime force on the #Judiciary Cmte, Mr. #Durbin became its chair in 2021, resisting calls from progressives that he make room for a younger member given his leadership role & other #legislative responsibilities.

He subsequently oversaw the confirmation of 235 federal #judges during the Biden admin—including one #SCOTUS justice—surpassing by one the number of judges confirmed by #Republicans during an aggressive push in #Trump’s first term.

#law #legislation #LegislativeBranch #democracy

#Durbin …has also forged close relationships w/some #Republicans, including Sen #ChuckGrassley of Iowa, who has been chairman of the #Judiciary Cmte in periods when Durbin was the top #Democrat.

The two pushed a #criminal #justice overhaul that overcame Republican resistance to be signed into #law by #Trump during his first term, leading to the early release of thousands of prisoners who had their sentences recalculated.

#law #legislation #LegislativeBranch #democracy #USpol

In celebrating the sixth anniversary of that #law, the #FirstStepAct, in December, #Durbin noted that less than 10% of the 40k prisoners released under the law, many of them drug offenders, had been rearrested or jailed, far less than the typical #recidivism rate.

#legislation #LegislativeBranch #democracy #USpol