#Durbin was an early critic of the #war in #Iraq, voting against the 2002 authorization for military force. He criticized the mistreatment of detainees at the US military prison in #GuantánamoBay, Cuba, as comparable to the acts of “Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime — Pol Pot or others — that had no concern for human beings” & later apologized for a “poor choice of words.”

In celebrating the sixth anniversary of that #law, the #FirstStepAct, in December, #Durbin noted that less than 10% of the 40k prisoners released under the law, many of them drug offenders, had been rearrested or jailed, far less than the typical #recidivism rate.

#Durbin …has also forged close relationships w/some #Republicans, including Sen #ChuckGrassley of Iowa, who has been chairman of the #Judiciary Cmte in periods when Durbin was the top #Democrat.

The two pushed a #criminal #justice overhaul that overcame Republican resistance to be signed into #law by #Trump during his first term, leading to the early release of thousands of prisoners who had their sentences recalculated.

…A longtime force on the #Judiciary Cmte, Mr. #Durbin became its chair in 2021, resisting calls from progressives that he make room for a younger member given his leadership role & other #legislative responsibilities.

He subsequently oversaw the confirmation of 235 federal #judges during the Biden admin—including one #SCOTUS justice—surpassing by one the number of judges confirmed by #Republicans during an aggressive push in #Trump’s first term.

#Durbin’s departure will reverberate in the #Senate, where he played a prominent role on a host of big issues & was considered a forceful advocate of party positions. He was among the first to push for a path to #citizenship for some #undocumented immigrants brought to the #UnitedStates illegally as children, a group that came to be known as #Dreamers that became the focal point of successive failed efforts to overhaul #immigration laws.

#ChuckGrassley of Iowa, one of the few #Republicans who have signed on to #legislation opposing #Trump’s #tariffs, says in Greer’s hearing that he supports the president generally but believes #Congress has delegated too much authority to the president over #trade.

Day nine cont:

“Andrew CLENNEL: Alright, joining me live is Shadow #HousingMinister #MichaelSukkar. He is in the marginal Labor seat of #McEwen, just taken part in a press conference with #PeterDutton with this new announcement. Michael Sukkar, thanks for your time. You’re proposing to cut the #InternationalStudent intake from 320,000 to 240,000 – isn’t that along the lines of what the government has been trying to achieve anyway? And you blocked their #StudentCap #legislation.”

“Michael SUKKAR: No, Andrew, what we’ve seen under this government is increased #StudentNumbers. They completely botched their attempt at trying to address this issue because they tried to placate all of the #VestedInterests involved. And that means that we’ve seen more than a million #migrants over two years. Our announcement today, Andrew is part of a suite of measures to help Australians battle this #HousingCrisis.”

#AusPol / #Liberal / #LNP / #HousingCrisis <https://www.michaelsukkar.com.au/ministerial-media-releases/interview-with-andrew-clennell-sky-news-australia-3/>