--- title: Republicans Attack Amputee For 'Not Standing' For Veterans description: The National Republican Senatorial Committee accused an Illinois lawmaker who lost both her legs in Iraq of “not standing up" for veterans canonical: https://time.com/4251633/tammy-duckworth-nrsc-tweet/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-08T21:48:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:20:23.263Z article:section: Politics og:title: Republicans Attack Amputee Lawmaker For 'Not Standing Up' For Veterans og:description: The Army veteran lost both of her legs in Iraq og:url: https://time.com/4251633/tammy-duckworth-nrsc-tweet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8af9a6237af8b6c0/69888a34cf40a8552bc4253b/tammy-duckworth-nrsc.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Democratic Leader Pelosi Highlights Increased Number Of Women In The House og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Republicans Attack Amputee Lawmaker For 'Not Standing Up' For Veterans twitter:description: The Army veteran lost both of her legs in Iraq twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8af9a6237af8b6c0/69888a34cf40a8552bc4253b/tammy-duckworth-nrsc.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republicans Attack Amputee Lawmaker For 'Not Standing Up' For Veterans > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Mar 8, 2016 9:48 PM UTC  U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) (3rd L) stands with female members of the Democratic Caucus during a photo op on January 3, 2013 in Washington, DC. U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) (3rd L) stands with female members of the Democratic Caucus during a photo op on January 3, 2013 in Washington, DC. Mark Wilson—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Mar 8, 2016 9:48 PM UTC The [National Republican Senatorial Committee](http://www.nrsc.org/) (NRSC) on Tuesday [accused an Illinois lawmaker and Army veteran who lost both her legs](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/272242-nrsc-faces-heat-for-tweet-about-duckworth-not-standing-up-for) in Iraq of “not standing up for our veterans.” The group blasted Rep. Tammy Duckworth, who is running to represent Illinois in the U.S. Senate, in a tweet that it promptly deleted. “Tammy Duckworth has a sad record of not standing up for our veterans,” the NRSC wrote on Twitter. It later issued a statement on the tweet that slammed Duckworth again. “It would be great if reporters would pay as much attention to a deleted tweet as they should to Tammy Duckworth being sued by VA whistleblowers for ignoring claims of mistreatment and corruption,” NRSC spokesman Greg Blair said. > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/707299921003683840) The lawsuit referenced by the NRSC alleges [ethics violations from nearly a decade ago](http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/VA-Whistleblowers-Accuse-Duckworth-of-Ignoring-Veteran-Abuse-Corruption.html) and has become a point of contention in her campaign to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Mark Kirk, the [Chicago _Tribune_](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-tammy-duckworth-lawsuit-20150803-story.html) reported last August. Duckworth was a U.S. Army helicopter pilot when she lost both legs and partial use of her right arm in a 2004 explosion during the Iraq War. She was awarded the Purple Heart as a result of her injuries, [according to her website](http://tammyduckworth.com/meet-tammy/). Duckworth’s spokesman, Matt McGrath, called the tweet “tasteless and dishonest,” according to a statement obtained by NBC News. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4251633/tammy-duckworth-nrsc-tweet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4251633/tammy-duckworth-nrsc-tweet/"},"headline":"Republicans Attack Amputee Lawmaker For 'Not Standing Up' For Veterans","datePublished":"2016-03-08T21:48:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:20:23.263Z","description":"The Army veteran lost both of her legs in Iraq","url":"https://time.com/4251633/tammy-duckworth-nrsc-tweet/","keywords":["Illinois"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8af9a6237af8b6c0/69888a34cf40a8552bc4253b/tammy-duckworth-nrsc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8af9a6237af8b6c0/69888a34cf40a8552bc4253b/tammy-duckworth-nrsc.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Democratic Leader Pelosi Highlights Increased Number Of Women In The House","caption":"Democratic Leader Pelosi Highlights Increased Number Of Women In The House","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4251633/tammy-duckworth-nrsc-tweet/","name":"Republicans Attack Amputee Lawmaker For 'Not Standing Up' For Veterans"}}]}] ```