Last Friday, I joined with Governor JB Pritzker, Senator Dick Durbin, and a dozen other members of the Illinois delegation in Chicago to voice our unwavering commitment to defending Medicaid against attempts by President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress to cut the health care program. More than 3.4 million Illinoisans – a fourth of the state’s population – rely on Medicaid for access to health care, including 1.4 million children. In our district alone, 158,000 of our neighbors, including 78,000 children, depend on Medicaid. Last week, Republicans passed a budget resolution paving the way for draconian cuts to Medicaid.

During the press conference, I spoke about a man named Jonathan, a 23-year-old living with autism who reached out to my office asking for us to defend Medicaid. Millions of Americans like Jonathan rely on Medicaid for health insurance as well as related support services that allow them to participate in our workforce and contribute to our communities while living rewarding lives. However, without proper funding for this program, people like Jonathan would lose that access, decreasing their quality of life and forcing patients and their families into unthinkable situations on how to pay for or go without treatment. The budget is not just numbers on a line; federal funding impacts millions of Illinoisans, and I’m ready to fight like hell to defend these programs. You can watch my full remarks at the press conference here and read about it in the Chicago Tribune here.

On Wednesday, I participated in an Oversight Committee hearing in which I called out the Trump Administration for its inaction in addressing the rising costs of groceries, President Trump’s baseless attacks on the city of Chicago, and Republican plans to gut Medicaid. I asked the four mayors who testified, including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, if the high costs of groceries were a major concern for them and their cities, as the price of a dozen eggs has increased by nearly two dollars, or 27 percent, since the day before President Trump was inaugurated. At the current rate, a dozen eggs will soon be more expensive than a magazine for an AK-47 assault rifle. This crisis demands action by the president, and it’s not clear how high prices will climb before he responds.

On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of welcoming United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 881 President and International Vice President Steve Powell to Washington, D.C. for President Donald Trump’s Joint Address to Congress. For forty years, Steve has been a tireless advocate for Illinois’ working families, and I’m proud to continue to partner with him on fighting for working families at a time when Americans are struggling with soaring grocery prices while facing uncertainty around food safety and access to health care.

To my disappointment, the president did not mention the word 'Medicaid' even once during his record-breaking 100-minute speech on the state of our nation. At a time when Republicans have plans to gut the program on which 3.4 million Illinoisans depend, I was very troubled that President Trump chose not to address these cuts or reassure Americans everywhere that no cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, Social Security, and other social safety net programs are on their way. There should be no cuts to any of these programs, and I am determined to stand up to any attempts to cut off aid to Americans when they need help most.

Last Friday, President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. The meeting should have been a reaffirmation of commitment to stand with the Ukrainian people. Instead, however, President Trump openly attacked President Zelenskyy and appeared to parrot Russian talking points only to subsequently freeze all American aid to Ukraine. To see an American president side with Russia over our democratic allies was shocking, and the move undercuts trust among U.S. allies, partners, and friends around the world, including in Taiwan, who face growing hostilities from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The American people support standing with our allies and democratic partners, not only out of our commitment to our values but also out of the recognition that Americans are safer when our security commitments are trusted by our friends and feared by our adversaries. I joined CNN’s Jim Sciutto to break down this alarming meeting. You can watch the full interview here.

The best way to stay up to date on these issues beyond our newsletter is through my social media accounts, which I update multiple times each day. You can follow my Twitter (X) here, my Facebook page here, my Instagram here, my Threads here, and my Bluesky here. Thank you for staying engaged in our community.