Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., the ranking member of the Senate Transportation Subcommittee, prepares for a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 27, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

On Tuesday, WCPT’s Maggie O’Keefe spoke with Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) about the recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the senator called a “big, beautiful betrayal.”

Duckworth argued 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.”

She continued: “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.

Below is the full transcript of the interview. (Please note: The transcript has been edited for clarity.)

Maggie O’Keefe: Filling in for Jone Esposito, I’m Maggie O’Keefe. We have Illinois U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth on the line.

Senator, are you with us?

Sen. Tammy Duckworth: I sure am, Maggie. How are you today?

Maggie O’Keefe: I am good, now that I have you on the line.

Senator, you don’t mince your words ever. But in your latest press release statement about the “big, beautiful betrayal,” that you called it, you said this bill was about lining Donald Trump’s pockets and those of his billionaire friends. I’d love for you to elaborate more on that.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth: Sure. Well, first off, it actually explode[s] our national debt by as much as $4 trillion. That’s going to have to be paid for by our children and grandchildren. But let me just give you some Illinois numbers. The cuts to Medicaid is going to mean that over 500,000 Illinoisans are going to lose health coverage. 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. And so, it doesn’t matter if your insurance card says Blue Cross Blue Shield on it and not Medicaid. The Medicaid cuts is going to mean that that obstetrics program is going to be gone, and if you have to give birth, even if you have Blue Cross Blue Shield or Aetna or something like that, you might find yourself having to drive 100 miles to be able to deliver your baby. This is going to be pretty devastating across the state.

Maggie O’Keefe: It certainly will be. Thank you for all of your work trying to hold it back as much as you possibly could. We are extremely proud of you here in Illinois.

Last month, you grilled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a Senate Armed Services Committee [hearing]. Here’s a clip from your encounter on June 18.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (from video): You are blowing through money, like my fellow cadets and I did in our first liberty after basic camp. Luckily, I didn’t end up with a questionable tattoo. Your failures, Mr. Secretary, since you’ve taken office, has been staggering.”

Maggie O’Keefe: Sick burn, for sure. Now that that bill has passed, what would you say about the defense spending that’s been approved?

Sen. Tammy Duckworth: Well, you know what? Tomorrow, we’re starting the new defense spending bill, which is coming forward, and they’re asking for a trillion dollars. The one that was approved was $820 billion and they want to up that to a trillion dollars. That increase — 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.

What they’re doing is actually — you know, Pete Hegseth is blowing through money. I’ll give you an example. They’re helping to deport folks with deportation flights that cost millions of dollars when, traditionally, we charter aircraft at $38,000, instead of spending $2 million, to deport immigrants. We are putting National Guard troops in Los Angeles, when there’s already Los Angeles Police Department there who could do the job. It’s costing over $140 million, which we’re wondering if that’s going to be paid back to the National Guard at some point.

It’s just this lack of fiscal discipline that is happening in this Department of Defense. And it comes from this man, Pete Hegseth, who’s absolutely not qualified for his job. I mean, the last time he was in charge of a budget, he messed it up so badly that they had to bring in a forensic accountant. And that was only a budget of $13 million. And now he wants a trillion to play with. It’s really irresponsible.

Maggie O’Keefe: It is.

So, senator, what happens now with the “big, beautiful betrayal” in place. What can be done to reverse the damage? And are Democrats talking about whether we should gain back the House and if we can flip the Senate? What do we do?

Sen. Tammy Duckworth: Well, we have to do everything that we can to try to flip the House. I think it’s also important for those governors races.

You should know that our governors across this country and our attorneys general, like Kwame Raoul here in Illinois, are really critical in fighting to get the funding that was appropriated by Congress. There’s a lot of money there that Congress appropriated that the Trump administration has shut the funding for, against the law, and so those lawsuits are moving forward. You should know that the cuts to SNAP benefits is going to cost the state of Illinois an additional $888 million, so as much as a billion dollars that will have to come out of our state budget.

And so, it’s really important to make sure that, yes, we try to flip the House, we try to flip the Senate, 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.

Maggie O’Keefe: Absolutely. Before I let you go, what does this say about the Republican Party and where they’re headed with their priorities now that this bill has passed? What’s the next move towards their autocratic dream?

Sen. Tammy Duckworth: Well, this is the thing: They don’t really care about everyday middle-class Americans. They care more about the ultra-wealthy, the tax benefits to the ultra-wealthy. This is the top .1 percent of Americans. These are people who make, net, over a half a million dollars a year. This is not the ordinary middle-class families. They’re the ones who are going to get the benefits of this.

But even if you don’t have SNAP, even if you don’t have Medicaid, you’re going to lose your local grocery stores. They cut Pell Grants. So unless you can afford to pay full tuition out of pocket for your kids to go to college, your child may not be going to college next year, because the Pell Grant assistance is cut so significantly that many kids will not be able to afford to go to college.

And so. we’re going to do everything we can to fight them, to try to regain some of our footing. But, really, this is about a push to the next election and try to flip the House and try to regain some control again.

Maggie O’Keefe: Well, thank you so much for your time today, and also everything you’re doing in Washington and for the state of Illinois. We really appreciate you taking the time today on WCPT 820.

Sen. Duckworth: Thank you.