with
Venezuela's interim President
Juan Guaidó in February 2020 In 2006, the
National Journal rated Durbin as the most liberal U.S. senator. According to the 2019
GovTrack report card, he had the 10th-most left-leaning voting record in the Senate. The
American Conservative Union gave him a 5% lifetime conservative rating in 2020.
Social issues Abortion During his first term in Congress, Durbin supported upholding existing restrictions on
abortion and imposing new limitations, including a constitutional amendment that would have nullified
Roe v. Wade. Beginning in his second Senate term, he reversed his position and has since voted to maintain access to abortion, including support for
Medicaid funding of it, and opposed any limitation he considers a practical or potential encroachment upon
Roe. Durbin has maintained that this reversal came about due to personal reflection and his growing awareness of potentially harmful implications of his previous policy with respect to women facing dangerous pregnancies. He said, "I still oppose abortion and would try my best to convince any woman in my family to carry the baby to term. But I believe that ultimately the decision must be made by the woman, her doctor, her family, and her conscience." In September 2020, Durbin voted to confirm judges
Stephen McGlynn and
David W. Dugan, who have criticized Supreme Court rulings such as
Roe, to lifetime appointments to the federal judiciary in Illinois. Durbin opposed the
2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, saying, "millions of Americans are waking up in a country where they have fewer rights than their parents and grandparents."
Criminal justice reform In July 2017, Durbin and Senators
Cory Booker,
Elizabeth Warren, and
Kamala Harris introduced the Dignity for Incarcerated Women Act, legislation implementing a ban on the shackling of pregnant women and mandating that the
Federal Bureau of Prisons form superior visitation policies for parents and provide parenting classes and health products such as
tampons and
pads. The bill also restricted prison employees from entering restrooms of the opposite sex except in pressing circumstances. In December 2018, Durbin voted for the
First Step Act, legislation aimed at reducing
recidivism rates among federal prisoners by expanding job training and other programs in addition to expanding early-release programs and modifying sentencing laws such as mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, "to more equitably punish drug offenders."
Freedom of expression In 2007, as Senate Majority Whip, Durbin said on record, "It's time to reinstitute the
Fairness Doctrine." In 2010, Durbin cosponsored and passed from committee the
Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, a bill to combat media piracy by blacklisting websites. Many who oppose the bill argue that it violates
First Amendment rights and promotes censorship. The announcement of the bill was followed by a wave of protest from digital rights activists, including the
Electronic Frontier Foundation, calling it censorship and saying that action could be taken against all users of sites on which only some users are uploading infringing material. Durbin sponsored the
PROTECT IP Act.
Gun control Durbin received an "F" grade from the
National Rifle Association (NRA) for his consistent support for
gun control. Durbin supports a national assault weapon ban. Durbin sent
Attorney General Jeff Sessions a letter in May 2017 asking for support in expanding the
Chicago Police Department's violence prevention programs by expanding access to the Strategic Decision Support Centers and the
National Integrated Ballistic Information Network. He also asked the
Justice Department to support the Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act, which would stop illegal state-to-state gun trafficking. In response to
mass shootings, such as the
Orlando nightclub shooting and
Las Vegas shooting, Durbin has repeatedly called for expanded gun control laws, saying that Congress would be "complicit" in the shooting deaths of people if it did not act. After the October 2017
Las Vegas shooting, Durbin was one of 24 senators to sign a letter to
National Institutes of Health Director
Francis Collins espousing the view that it was critical that the NIH "dedicate a portion of its resources to the public health consequences of gun violence" at a time when 93 Americans die per day from gun-related fatalities and noted that the
Dickey Amendment did not prohibit objective, scientific inquiries into shooting death prevention. In January 2019, Durbin was one of 40 senators to introduce the Background Check Expansion Act, a bill that would require
background checks for either the sale or transfer of all firearms including all unlicensed sellers. Exceptions to the bill's background check requirement included transfers between members of law enforcement, loaning firearms for either hunting or sporting events temporarily, providing firearms as gifts to members of one's immediate family, firearms transferred as part of an inheritance, or giving a firearm to another person temporarily for immediate self-defense.
HIV/AIDS In March 2007, Durbin introduced the African Health Capacity Investment Act of 2007 to the Senate. The bill was designed so that over three years, the U.S. would supply over $600 million to help create safer medical facilities and working conditions, and to recruit and train doctors from all over North America. In December 2007, Durbin and two other senators co-sponsored Senator
John Kerry's Nondiscrimination in Travel and Immigration Act. In March 2007, he joined 32 other senators to co-sponsor the
Early Treatment for HIV Act.
Immigration Durbin is the chief proponent of the
Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The bill would provide certain students who entered or were brought to the nation illegally with the opportunity to earn conditional permanent residency if they arrived in the U.S. as children; graduated from a U.S.
high school; have been in the country continuously for at least five years before the bill's enactment; submit biometric data; pass a criminal background check; and complete two years toward a four-year degree from an accredited university or complete at least two years in the military within a five-year period. In 2013, the Immigrant Legal Resource Center presented Durbin with the inaugural Nancy Pelosi Award for Immigration & Civil Rights Policy for his leadership on this issue. On January 28, 2013, Durbin was a member of a bipartisan group of eight senators, the
Gang of Eight, which announced principles for comprehensive
immigration reform (CIR). In April 2018, Durbin was one of five senators to send acting director of
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Thomas Homan a letter about standards the agency used to determine how to detain a pregnant woman, requesting that pregnant women not be held in custody except in extraordinary circumstances after reports "that ICE has failed to provide critical medical care to pregnant women in immigration detention—resulting in miscarriages and other negative health outcomes". In July 2018, Durbin said Homeland Security Secretary
Kirstjen Nielsen should resign over the
Trump administration family separation policy. He argued it "is and was a cruel policy inconsistent with the bedrock values of the nation," adding someone "in this administration has to accept responsibility." Tyler Houlton, a
DHS spokesman, replied on Twitter that "obstructionists in Congress should get to work". In July 2019, after reports that the Trump administration intended to end protections of spouses, parents and children of active-duty service members from deportation, Durbin was one of 22 senators to sign a letter led by
Tammy Duckworth arguing that the program allowed service members the ability "to fight for the United States overseas and not worry that their spouse, children, or parents will be deported while they are away" and that the program's termination would cause personal hardship for service members in combat. In October 2019, Durbin blocked the passage of S.386, the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, which aims to eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for all employment-based immigrants and to increase the per-country limitation for all family-sponsored immigrants from 7% to 15%.
Alejandro Mayorkas, along with
Vice President Kamala Harris and
Representative Veronica Escobar. Durbin argued that bill S.386 would prioritize people of Indian and Chinese origin, who have been in the
green card backlog for years, at the expense of future immigrants from other countries. After blocking S.386, he proposed his own bill, which would almost triple the number of employment-based green cards and eliminate country caps. Durbin agreed that his bill would not pass in the current administration and promised for a bipartisan agreement to pass S.386.
Tobacco regulation In 1987, Durbin introduced major
tobacco regulation legislation in the House. The bill banned cigarette smoking on airline flights of two hours or less. Representative
C. W. Bill Young joined him in saying that the rights of smokers to smoke ends where their smoking affects other people's health and safety, such as on airplanes. The bill passed as part of the 1988 transportation spending bill. In 1989, Congress banned cigarette smoking on all domestic airline flights. In March 1994, Durbin proposed an amendment to the
Improving America's Schools Act that required schools receiving federal drug prevention money to teach elementary and secondary students about the dangers of tobacco, drugs, and
alcohol. The amendment also required schools to warn students about tobacco and teach them how to resist
peer pressure to smoke. In February 2008, Durbin called on Congress to support a measure that would allow the
Food and Drug Administration to oversee the tobacco industry. The measure would require companies to disclose the contents of tobacco products, restrict advertising and promotions, and mandate the removal of harmful ingredients from tobacco products. It would also prohibit tobacco companies from using terms like "low risk", "light", and "mild" on the packaging. Durbin attributes his stance against tobacco smoking to his father, who smoked two packs of cigarettes a day and died of lung cancer.
Economic issues Child care In 2019, Durbin and 34 other senators introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act. The bill was expected to create 770,000 new
child care jobs and ensure families under 75% of the state median income would not pay for child care, with higher-earning families having to pay "their fair share for care on a sliding scale, regardless of the number of children they have." The legislation also supported universal access to high-quality preschool programs for all three- and four-year-olds. Additionally, it would have changed child care compensation and training to aid both teachers and caregivers. The bill was referred to the
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, where it did not receive a hearing or vote.
Election finance Durbin reintroduced the
Fair Elections Now Act during the
112th Congress. The bill would provide public funds to candidates who do not take political donations larger than $100 from any donor.
Environment Among Durbin's legislative causes are environmental protection, particularly the protection of the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The
League of Conservation Voters gave him a rating of 89%.
Sierra Club gave him a 90% rating.
2008 financial crisis , then acting director of the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, to discuss helping consumers compare bank feesOn September 18, 2008, Durbin attended a closed meeting with congressional leaders, then-Treasury Secretary
Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman
Ben Bernanke, and was urged to craft legislation to help financially troubled banks. That same day (trade effective the next day), Durbin sold mutual fund shares worth $42,696 and reinvested it all with
Warren Buffett. On February 26, 2009, Durbin introduced the Protecting Consumers from Unreasonable Credit Rates Act of 2009, calling for a maximum annual interest rate cap of 36%, including all interest and fees. The bill was intended to put an end to predatory lending activities. In an April 27, 2009, interview with
WJJG talk radio host
Ray Hanania, Durbin said banks were responsible for the
2008 financial crisis. He added that many of the banks responsible for the crisis "own the place", referring to the power the
banking lobby wields on Capitol Hill.
Trade In January 2005, Durbin changed his longstanding position on sugar
tariffs and
price supports. After several years of voting to keep sugar
quotas and price supports, he now favors abolishing the program. "The sugar program depended on congressmen like me from states that grew corn", Durbin said, referring to the fact that, though they were formerly a single entity, the sugar market and the
corn syrup market are now largely separate. In May 2006, Durbin campaigned to maintain a $0.54 per gallon tariff on imported
ethanol. He justified the tariff by joining
Barack Obama in stating that "ethanol imports are neither necessary nor a practical response to current gasoline prices", arguing instead that domestic ethanol production is sufficient and expanding.
Rod Blagojevich Shortly after Governor
Rod Blagojevich's arrest on federal corruption charges on December 9, 2008, Durbin called for the Illinois legislature to quickly pass legislation for a special election to fill then-President-elect
Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. He said that no Senate appointment of Blagojevich's could produce a credible replacement. Durbin and Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid led all 50 members of the
Senate Democratic Caucus in writing Blagojevich to urge him to resign and not name a successor to Obama.
Technology In December 2025, Durbin and
Lindsey Graham introduced the Sunset Section 230 Act, to repeal
Section 230.
Transportation Durbin has been a major proponent of expanded
Amtrak funding and support.
Foreign and military policy China In April 2017, Durbin was among eight Democratic senators to sign a letter to President Trump noting government-subsidized Chinese steel had been placed into the American market in recent years below cost and had hurt the domestic steel industry and the iron ore industry that fed it, calling on President Trump to raise the steel issue with
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping in his meeting with him.
Darfur On March 2, 2005, then-Senator
Jon Corzine presented the
Darfur Peace and Accountability Act (S. 495) to the Senate. Durbin was one of 40 senators to co-sponsor the bill. The bill asked all people involved in or deemed in some way responsible for the
genocide in Darfur to be denied visas and entrance to the U.S. In 2006, Durbin co-sponsored the Durbin-Leahy Amendment to the Supplemental Appropriations bill for emergency funding to instill peace in
Darfur. In 2006, he also co-sponsored the Lieberman Resolution and the Clinton Amendment. On June 7, 2007, Durbin introduced the Sudan Disclosure Enforcement Act, which was aimed "at enhancing the U.S. Government's ability to impose penalties on violators of U.S. sanctions against Sudan." The bill called for the
U.N. Security Council to vote on sanctions against the Sudanese Government for the genocide in Darfur. Durbin has voted for all Darfur-related legislation. In addition to the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act, he also supported the Civilian Protection No-Fly Zone Act, the Hybrid Force Resolution, and the Sudan Divestment Authorization Act.
Drone warfare In April 2013, Durbin chaired a hearing in the
Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights about the moral, legal and constitutional issues surrounding
targeted killings and the use of
drones. Durbin said, "Many in the national security community are concerned that we may undermine our counterterrorism efforts if we do not carefully measure the benefits and costs of targeted killing."
Myanmar In October 2017, Durbin condemned the
genocide of the
Rohingya Muslim minority in
Myanmar and called for a stronger response to it.
Guantanamo Bay In 2005, Durbin compared the U.S. treatment of prisoners at
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to the atrocities committed by "
Nazis, Soviets in their
gulags, or some mad regime—
Pol Pot or others—that had no concern for human beings." Demands that he apologize were initially rebuffed, but Durbin later apologized to the military for his remarks, which he said were "a very poor choice of words." while former Speaker of the House
Newt Gingrich called on the Senate to censure him. Chicago Mayor
Richard Daley, whose son Patrick was serving in U.S. Army, also called on Durbin to apologize for his remarks, saying that he thought it was a "disgrace to say that any man or woman in the military would act like that." John Wertheim, Democratic state party chairman of New Mexico, and Jim Pederson, Arizona Democratic party chairman, also criticized Durbin's remarks. The leader of the
Veterans of Foreign Wars also demanded an apology, as did the
Anti-Defamation League. Former
The New Republic editor
Andrew Sullivan praised Durbin for raising serious moral issues about U.S. policy. Other commentators, including commentator
Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of
Daily Kos, condemned Durbin for apologizing to his critics, arguing he made a mistake in making himself, rather than
detention and torture concerns at Guantanamo Bay, the focus of media coverage.
Impeachment trials of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump On February 12, 1999, Durbin joined all Democrats in the Senate in voting to acquit
Bill Clinton on both impeachment articles in
Clinton's impeachment trial. On February 5, 2020, Durbin voted to convict
Donald Trump on both impeachment articles in
Trump's first impeachment trial. On February 13, 2021, Durbin voted to convict Trump again in
Trump's second impeachment trial.
2001 invasion of Afghanistan Durbin voted to approve the
Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists. This act granted the executive broad military powers and was used to justify the 2001
U.S. invasion of Afghanistan and later military interventions.
Iraq War On September 9, 2002, Durbin was the first of four Democratic senators (the others being
Bob Graham,
Dianne Feinstein, and
Carl Levin) on the
Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), responding to the
George W. Bush administration's request for a
joint resolution authorizing a preemptive
war on Iraq without having prepared a
National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), to ask
Central Intelligence Director George Tenet to prepare an NIE on the status of
Iraq's
Weapon of mass destruction programs. Durbin was also one of few senators who read the resulting October 1, 2002, NIE, ''Iraq's Continuing Programs for Weapons of Mass Destruction''. On September 29, 2002, Durbin held a news conference in Chicago to announce that "absent dramatic changes" in the resolution, he would vote against the resolution authorizing war on Iraq. On October 2, at the first high-profile Chicago anti-Iraq War rally in
Federal Plaza, he repeated his promise to oppose the resolution in a letter read during the rally. On October 10, the U.S. Senate failed to pass Durbin's amendment to the resolution to strike "the continuing threat posed by Iraq" and insert "an imminent threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction", by a 30–70 vote, with most Democratic senators voting for the amendment and 21 joining all 49 Republican senators voting against it. On October 11, Durbin was one of 23 senators to vote against the joint resolution authorizing the Iraq War. On April 25, 2007, Durbin said that as an intelligence committee member he knew in 2002 from
classified information that the Bush Administration was misleading the American people into a war on Iraq, but could not reveal this because, as an intelligence committee member, he was sworn to secrecy. This revelation prompted an online
attack ad against Durbin by the
National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Israel-Palestine In his 1982 campaign, Durbin benefited from donations by pro-Israel groups, especially
AIPAC, that opposed Paul Findley's advocacy on behalf of the
Palestine Liberation Organization in the year before the election. In November 2023, he was the first U.S. senator to call for a ceasefire in the
Gaza war. In January 2024, Durbin voted against a resolution proposed by Senator
Bernie Sanders to apply the
human rights provisions of the
Foreign Assistance Act to
U.S. aid to Israel's military. The proposal was defeated, 72 to 11. In March 2024, Durbin urged the Biden administration to
recognize a "nonmilitarized"
Palestinian state after the end of the
war in Gaza. In April 2025, Durbin voted for a pair of resolutions Sanders proposed to cancel the
Trump administration's sales of $8.8 billion in bombs and other munitions to Israel. The proposals were defeated, 82 to 15.
Russia Durbin spearheaded a nonbinding resolution in July 2018 "warning President Trump not to let the Russian government question diplomats and other officials". The resolution states the U.S. "should refuse to make available any current or former diplomat, civil servant, political appointee, law enforcement official or member of the Armed Forces of the United States for questioning by the government of
Vladimir Putin". The resolution passed by a vote of 98–0. In December 2018, after
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the Trump administration was suspending its obligations in the
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 60 days if Russia continued to violate the treaty, Durbin was one of 26 senators to sign a letter expressing concern over the administration "now abandoning generations of bipartisan U.S. leadership around the paired goals of reducing the global role and number of nuclear weapons and ensuring strategic stability with America's nuclear-armed adversaries" and calling on Trump to continue arms negotiations.
Saudi Arabia In March 2019, Durbin was one of 10 Democratic senators to sign a letter to
Salman of Saudi Arabia requesting the release of human rights lawyer
Waleed Abu al-Khair and writer
Raif Badawi, women's rights activists
Loujain al-Hathloul and
Samar Badawi, and Dr.
Walid Fitaih. The senators wrote, "Not only have reputable international organizations detailed the arbitrary detention of peaceful activists and dissidents without trial for long periods, but the systematic discrimination against women, religious minorities and mistreatment of migrant workers and others has also been well-documented."
Military deployment in US cities In September 2025, Durbin called on the Senate Judiciary Committee to hold a hearing on President Trump's statement regarding the use of the US military in cities like Chicago. In a letter to the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Durbin wrote that military personnel are trained primarily for war, not community policing or safeguarding civil liberties. He alleged that such use of military personnel was unlawful and would endanger American communities..
2025 government shutdown In November 2025, Durbin was one of eight Democratic senators to vote with Republicans to advance a continuing resolution that would reopen the federal government after a 41-day shutdown. He said the measure, though "not perfect", took "important steps to reduce this shutdown's hurt", citing the impact on federal workers, food-aid programs (including SNAP) and air-travel delays. In his floor speech, he said he could not support a strategy that "wages political battles at the expense of … neighbors' paychecks or food for their children". His vote was criticized by other Illinois and national Democrats who opposed ending funding without including extensions of tax credits under the Affordable Care Act, arguing the deal surrendered key leverage.
Other positions In October 2007, Durbin opposed a bill in the
Illinois General Assembly that would allow three casinos to be built, saying, "I really, really think we ought to stop and catch our breath and say, 'Is this the future of Illinois? That every time we want to do something we'll just build more casinos? In August 2013, Durbin was among 23 Democratic senators to sign a letter to the Defense Department warning of some payday lenders "offering predatory loan products to service members at exorbitant triple-digit effective interest rates and loan products that do not include the additional protections envisioned by the law" and asserting that service members and their families "deserve the strongest possible protections and swift action to ensure that all forms of credit offered to members of our armed forces are safe and sound." In March 2018, Durbin was among 10 senators to sign a letter spearheaded by
Jeff Merkley lambasting a proposal by FCC Chairman
Ajit Pai that would curb the scope of benefits from the Lifeline program during a period when roughly 6.5 million people in poor communities relied on Lifeline to receive access to high-speed internet, arguing that it was Pai's "obligation to the American public, as the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, to improve the Lifeline program and ensure that more Americans can afford access, and have means of access, to broadband and phone service." The senators also advocated insuring that "Lifeline reaches more Americans in need of access to communication services." In April 2019, Durbin was among 34 senators to sign a letter to Trump encouraging him "to listen to members of your own Administration and reverse a decision that will damage our national security and aggravate conditions inside Central America", asserting that Trump had "consistently expressed a flawed understanding of U.S. foreign assistance" since becoming president and that he was "personally undermining efforts to promote U.S. national security and economic prosperity" by preventing the use of Fiscal Year 2018 national security funding. The senators argued that foreign assistance to Central American countries created less migration to the U.S. by helping to improve conditions in those countries. In April 2019, Durbin was among six senators to send
CFPB director
Kathy Kraninger a letter expressing concern that "CFPB leadership has abandoned its supervision and enforcement activities related to federal student loan servicers" and opining that such behavior displayed "a shocking disregard for the financial well-being of our nation's public servants, including teachers, first responders, and members of the military." The senators requested that Kraninger clarify the CFPB's role in overseeing the
Public Service Loan Forgiveness's student loan servicers handling since December 2017, such as examinations. In April 2019, Durbin was among 41 senators to sign a bipartisan letter to the housing subcommittee praising the
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 4 Capacity Building program as authorizing "HUD to partner with national nonprofit community development organizations to provide education, training, and financial support to local community development corporations (CDCs) across the country" and expressing disappointment that Trump's budget "has slated this program for elimination after decades of successful economic and community development." The senators wrote of their hope that the subcommittee would support continued funding for Section 4 in Fiscal Year 2020. In June 2019, Durbin was among 15 senators to introduce the Affordable Medications Act, legislation intended to promote transparency by mandating that pharmaceutical companies disclose the amount of money going toward research and development in addition to both marketing and executives' salaries. The bill also abolished the restriction that stopped the federal Medicare program from using its buying power to negotiate lower drug prices for beneficiaries and hinder drug company monopoly practices used to keep prices high and disable less expensive generics entering the market. In August 2019, Durbin, three other Senate Democrats, and
Bernie Sanders signed a letter to Acting FDA Commissioner
Ned Sharpless in response to
Novartis falsifying data as part of an attempt to gain the FDA's approval for its new
gene therapy Zolgensma, writing that it was "unconscionable that a drug company would provide manipulated data to federal regulators in order to rush its product to market, reap federal perks, and charge the highest amount in American history for its medication." Durbin was participating in the
2021 United States Electoral College vote count when
pro-Trump rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol. Along with other senators and staff, Durbin ran out of the Senate Chamber after the attackers, whom he called "extremists", breached the Capitol. He then evacuated to a secure location with Pelosi, McConnell and Schumer. Durbin blamed Trump for the attack. He also said Senator
Josh Hawley was partially responsible for the attack. He called for Trump's removal through the invocation of the
Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution or impeachment. In March 2025, Durbin voted with all Senate Republicans and nine Democrats to pass a continuing resolution, advancing the Trump administration's spending bill, angering many Democratic base constituents as well as House Democrats, who unanimously opposed the bill. ==Electoral history==