Congress

After a weekend of setbacks, the Senate will try to sprint ahead Monday on President Donald Trump’s big bill of tax breaks and spending cuts despite a series of challenges

Unable to stop the march toward passage of the 940-page bill by Trump’s Fourth of July deadline, the minority party in Congress is using the tools at its disposal to delay and drag out the process

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said Sunday he will not seek reelection next year, a day after announcing his opposition to President Donald Trump’s tax breaks and spending cuts package because of its reductions to health care programs

Elon Musk on Saturday doubled down on his distaste for President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending cuts bill, arguing the legislation that Republican senators are scrambling to pass would kill jobs and bog down burgeoning industries

A new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the Senate bill would increase by 11.8 million the number of people without health insurance in 2034

Legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Sean Casten would expand the size of the U.S, Senate and House of Representatives

Gov. JB Pritzker will tell a congressional committee Thursday that America’s immigration problems are a result of a bipartisan failure to reform the country’s immigration system and secure the country’s borders

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was met with sharp questions and criticism Tuesday by lawmakers who demanded details on his move to deploy troops to Los Angeles

Only six months into the job, Senate Majority Leader John Thune faces a massive challenge as he tries to quickly push President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax and spending cuts package to passage with the support of a divided GOP conference

President Donald Trump’s big bill making its way through Congress will cut taxes by $3.75 trillion but also increase deficits by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office

Trump switched to tougher tactics Tuesday, deriding the holdout Republican senators

Trump’s high-octane ally, billionaire Elon Musk, lambasted the package — and those voting for it

U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood spoke with constituents in Joliet on Saturday, accompanied by fellow Democrat Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida. The pair discussed the proposed Republican budget bill and how social services, veterans and job programs will be impacted.

A look at a few of the potential sticking points in the Senate

House Republicans early Thursday took a major step forward on President Donald Trump’s agenda, approving a legislative package that combines tax breaks, spending cuts, border security funding and other priorities

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates 8.6 million fewer people would have health care coverage and 3 million less people a month would have SNAP food stamps benefits with the proposed changes

A fresh analysis from the Congressional Budget Office said the tax provisions would increase the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion over the decade

Conservatives are insisting on quicker, steeper cuts to federal programs to offset the costs of the trillions of dollars in lost tax revenue

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group, estimates that the House bill is shaping up to add roughly $3.3 trillion to the debt over the next decade

Extending President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, a priority of the Republican-controlled Congress, Moody’s said, would add $4 trillion over the next decade to the federal primary deficit (which does not include interest payments)

The conservative holdouts from the Freedom Caucus are insisting on deeper cuts — particularly to Medicaid. They want new work requirements for aid recipients to start immediately, rather than on Jan. 1, 2029, as the package proposes

Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison will run for congress, challenging U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D) for his seat in the 8th district.

House Republicans proposed sweeping tax breaks Monday in President Donald Trump’s big priority bill, tallying at least $4.9 trillion in costs so far, partly paid for with cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs used by millions of Americans

House Republicans unveiled the cost-saving centerpiece of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” late Sunday, at least $880 billion in cuts largely to Medicaid to help cover the cost of $4.5 trillion in tax breaks.

House Republicans appear to be backing off some, but not all, of the steep reductions to the Medicaid program as part of their big tax breaks bill

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi is the latest Democrat to enter the 2026 U.S. Senate primary for retiring Sen. Dick Durbin’s seat

Stratton secures endorsements from state’s top 2 Dems before other candidates join race

Just one day into her campaign to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin in the U.S. Senate, Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton on Friday received a key endorsement from Gov. JB Pritzker, nearly eight years after he first tapped her to be his running mate

Outgoing senator doesn’t plan to endorse in Democratic primary, for now

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate early Thursday morning to replace retiring Senator Dick Durbin

Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois said Wednesday that he will not seek reelection in 2026

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten, a Downers Grove Democrat who represents Illinois’ Sixth Congressional District, led the town hall Saturday, April 12, at Dixon’s Sauk Valley Community College to discuss concerns from Sauk Valley-area residents about national events.

Listen to the audio: U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville, held a town hall on Wednesday in Crystal Lake and discussed tariffs, potential impeachment of President Donald Trump and more

The exposure marks the eighth incident of staff hospitalization from drug exposure at the Thomson facility in the past 15 months

Read the transcript from our latest Talk-Line interview for April 16 featuring Shaw Local managing editor Charlene Bielema discussing Representative Eric Sorensen’s legislation concerning suicide prevention.

The Talk-Line interview for April 16 featured Shaw Local managing editor Charlene Bielema discussing area coverage of the criminal court and U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen’s legislation concerning suicide prevention

Congressional Republicans navigate tight margins while drafting budget bill

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten [D-Downers Grove] is calling the resignation of key members of the Trump administration following a breach of national security.

Rock Falls Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief Kyle Sommers said the departments are losing $825,000 in federal Community Project Funding appropriations they had planned to use to build a burn tower where firefighters from both communities could train in live-fire conditions.

Addison Township Supervisor Dennis Reboletti hopes to find them new home for the U.S. Rep. Henry J. Hyde sign that recently was removed from the courthouse in DuPage County

Conservatives have long talked about cutting government, but Republicans in Congress have shied away from approving deep reductions because of fear of how voters would react

Tom Weitzel examines whether Trump administration policies will benefit the law enforcement community

President Donald Trump has vowed to keep up his campaign of “swift and unrelenting action” in reorienting the nation’s economy, immigration and foreign policy in his address to Congress

President Donald Trump will stand before a joint session of Congress to give an accounting of his turbulent first weeks in office as a divided nation struggles to keep pace

House Republicans have muscled their budget blueprint to passage, with a push from President Donald Trump

Republican senators pushed a $340 billion budget framework to passage over Democratic objections after a nearly all-night vote

Trump undercut the Senate GOP’s efforts on Wednesday, calling on both chambers to pass the House budget resolution

DuPage County Board members voted on Tuesday to strip late Congressman Henry Hyde’s name from the courthouse in Wheaton.

House Republicans have missed another deadline to produce a massive budget package of tax cuts and slashed spending

The Joliet Fire Department will receive a national award that recognizes its community mental health program that has provided rapid care to more than 2,000 residents since 2022.