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Attorney General Pam Bondi clashed with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., over President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago on Tuesday.
The exchange came during Bondi’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, with Durbin pressing Bondi to justify the deployment. Bondi refused to detail her communications with the White House regarding the move, but she said the troops are there to protect the residents of Chicago.
“Why do you want to keep this secret?” Durbin asked. “The American people don’t know the rationale behind the deployment of National Guard troops in my state. The word is, and I think it’s been confirmed by the White House, they are going to transfer Texas National Guard units to the state of Illinois. What’s the rationale for that?”
“As you shut down the government — you voted to shut down the government, and you’re sitting here — our law enforcement officers aren’t being paid. They’re out there working to protect you. I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump. And currently, the National Guard are on the way to Chicago. If you’re not going to protect your citizens, President Trump will,” Bondi responded.
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Attorney General Pam Bondi is sworn in before a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The pair continued to argue as Durbin claimed Trump’s budget plan cut funding for certain law enforcement programs in Illinois. Bondi said she would “work with” his office if he named the specific programs.
“Tell me a specific grant that I turned off in Illinois that would help law enforcement, and I will work with you, but you have not done that,” Bondi said.
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“The National Guard is on the way. Right now, as we speak, so is [FBI Director Kash] Patel and deputy director Todd Blanche. You’re sitting here grilling me, and they’re on their way to Chicago,” she added.
Durbin responded, “It is my job to grill you.”
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed in an X post that he was Chicago bound on Tuesday morning.
“Chicago will be saved, and this FBI will continue to crush violent crime there, and all around the country. Heading to the Windy City now,” Patel wrote.
Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., speaks at an oversight hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
The exchange between Bondi and Durbin comes just days after Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson sued to block Trump from deploying troops to Chicago.
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State and city leaders are seeking both an emergency restraining order to immediately head off Trump’s effort and longer-term injunctive relief. They claim Trump plans “to use American soldiers to punish his political enemies.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks during a press conference amid reports of federal deployments to Chicago. (Kamil Krazaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
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“We must now start calling this what it is: Trump’s Invasion,” the Democratic governor said in a statement.
Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report
