Filling in for Joan Esposito, WCPT's Maggie O'Keefe talks to Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) about the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Duckworth called it a "big, beautiful betrayal," arguing that the legislation will "explode" the national debt by up to $4 trillion and negatively impact Illinois.

"The cuts to Medicaid is going to mean that over 500,000 Illinoisans are going to lose health coverage," Duckworth told WCPT. "The cut to SNAP programs is going to mean about 472,000 Illinoisans are going to lose grocery assistance. And when I've spoken to the Grocery Association, when I've spoken to the Illinois Hospital Association, they both said that you are going to see hospitals shut down, especially those safety net hospitals that are often the last hospital standing in a tri-county area."

Duckworth also criticized the GOP's recently unveiled annual defense spending bill, pointing out that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act included $820 billion in defense spending, "and they want to up that to a trillion dollars. Listen, I am a pro-military kind of gal. I served 23 years in the Army, and I'm all for giving our troops the best equipment in the world. But bottom line: This increase in spending doesn't actually help the troops. They're not proposing spending money on, say, building better barracks or supporting our troops." Instead, Duckworth explained, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is "blowing through money" on costly deportation flights and deploying National Guard troops to Los Angeles, "when there's already the Los Angeles Police Department there who could do the job."

Duckworth emphasized the need for Democrats to regain majorities in Congress and win gubernatorial and attorney general races in the 2026 midterm election. "But it's also important to support our state legislators as well, because they're the ones on the ground who are going to have to clean up the mess that Donald Trump is making," she said.

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