July 24, 2025

Press Release

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Tim Sheehy (R-MT) today led a bipartisan call for maintaining U.S. leadership in aviation safety. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, the Senators led 43 of their Senate colleagues in urging the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to oppose single-pilot operations at the International Civil Aviation Organization.

“Despite ongoing challenges, the U.S. has long represented the gold standard in aviation safety,” wrote the Senators. “The FAA should continue to promote sound safety standards as new technology develops and presents challenges to existing procedures. While technology will play a critical role in shaping the future of aviation innovation, including improved safety measures, policymakers have a duty to ensure that any changes are rigorously evaluated and incorporated into evidence-backed safety frameworks. The presence of two rested, well-trained, and qualified pilots on the flight deck remains a key pillar of aviation safety.”

The letter to Secretary Duffy comes as overseas aviation authorities, like the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, are pursuing pathways toward reduced-crew operations via automation and new technology. NASA and FAA joint studies have observed “significant increases in workload for single pilot operations, compared to two-crew,” in addition to a decrease in pilots’ perception of safety and performance.

July 17, 2025

Press Release

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Combat Veteran andU.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) joined U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and six of her colleagues in condemning the Trump Administration for its recent decision to terminate the consent order against Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU). This decision effectively excuses NFCU from accountability for charging millions in illegal surprise overdraft fees to their members—primarily active-duty servicemembers, Veterans, Department of Defense employees and their families.

“In 2024, the CFPB found that between 2017 and 2022, NFCU charged overdraft fees on ATM withdrawals and debit card purchases – even when accounts showed sufficient funds,” the Senators wrote in a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Acting Director Russell Vought. “In response, the Bureau issued a consent order requiring NFCU to pay $95 million in penalties and restitution: $80.6 million directly to harmed consumers and $15 million to the CFPB’s victims relief fund.”

That order was rescinded on July 1, 2025.

“As former CFPB officials have noted, this decision raises serious concerns about whether the Bureau is still capable—or even willing—to fulfill its legal mandate,” the Senators continued. “At a minimum, the public and Congress deserve answers.”

The full letter is available below and on Senator Duckworth's website:

June 25, 2025

Press Release

[WASHINGTON, D.C.] – Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) reintroduced legislation to ban the sale and manufacturing of products made from kangaroo skin, also known as “k-leather.” After years of the two lawmakers leading the charge on this issue, this week Mizuno and UMBRO joined cleat manufacturing giants—including Nike, Adidas, Puma and ASICS—in pledging to halt production of k-leather in their soccer cleats and other products. To help build on this momentum, reverse this inhumane trend and safeguard the kangaroo species from commercial exploitation, Senators Duckworth and Booker are introducing the Kangaroo Protection Act, which would help protect millions of wild kangaroos and their innocent babies who are needlessly killed every year for the use of their leather in commercial products. Additionally, this legislation would empower the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with other agencies, to issue civil and criminal penalties of fines up to $10,000 and other regulations.

“The mass killing of millions of kangaroos to make commercial products is needless and inhumane,” said Senator Duckworth. “While it is encouraging that more and more cleat manufacturers are pledging to stop using k-leather, the U.S. must stop incentivizing this cruel practice once and for all. I’m proud to reintroduce this bill with Senator Booker that would help prevent the deadly exploitation of kangaroos and promote the use of more humane alternatives to k-leather.”

“We should not allow the unnecessary killing of animals just so that big corporations can maximize profits,” said Senator Booker. “This legislation will help conserve the kangaroo species by ensuring that no one in the United States can distribute kangaroo products for commercial gain.”

The commercial slaughter of kangaroos isn’t just widespread—it’s unnecessarily cruel. It uses similar killing methods and is ten times larger than the infamously brutal Canadian seal hunt, which prompted the United States to ban the import of seal pelts in 1972. Despite having similar import bans for other animals, the U.S. is currently the second largest commercial market for k-leather products in the world. The Senators’ proposed legislation would help change that.

Copy of the bill text is available on Senator Duckworth’s website.