Politics
Dept. of Justice Announces Probe of Mayor Johnson After He Lauds Record of Hiring Black Chicagoans in Senior Positions

Federal prosecutors will probe whether Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson improperly hired city employees because they are Black, the Trump administration announced Monday.
“The Department of Justice is opening an investigation to determine whether the City of Chicago, Illinois, is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race” in violation of federal law, Assistant U.S. Attorney Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, wrote to Johnson.
Johnson is “proud to have the most diverse administration in the history of our city. Our administration reflects the diversity and values of Chicago. Unfortunately, the current federal administration does not reflect either,” according to a statement from his spokesperson.
The mayor's office workforce was 30% White, 34% Black, 24% Latino and 7% Asian American, according to data released Monday afternoon. The city’s overall workforce was 38% White, 29.5% Black, 26.5% Latino and 3.4% Asian American, according to city data.
The people of Chicago are 31.4% White, 29.9% Latino, 28.7% Black and 6.9% Asian, according to the 2020 U.S. census.
Dhillon, a legal adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign, told Johnson she opened the probe after the mayor told Byron T. Brazier, the pastor of the Apostolic Church of God on the city’s South Side, during a Sunday evening event that he had purposely surrounded himself with senior advisers who are Black.
Watch video of the event below:
HAPPENING NOW: Mayor Brandon Johnson attends a Lakeside Chat with Bishop Brazier. https://t.co/uGzn4zSjoG
— Mayor Brandon Johnson (@ChicagosMayor) May 18, 2025
Johnson, who has routinely touted his efforts to appoint the most racially diverse cabinet in Chicago history, said that was part of a strategy to “ensure that our people get a chance to grow their business.”
“There are some detractors that will push back on me and say, ‘The only thing the mayor talks about is the hiring of Black people,’” Johnson said. “No. What I’m saying is when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else. We are the most generous people on the planet. I don’t know too many cultures that have play cousins.”
Johnson also touted his decision to appoint Black Chicagoans to lead the Department of Planning and Development, the Office of Budget and Management and to serve as some of his closest advisers, including the city’s chief operating officer and the deputy mayors for business, neighborhood and economic development as well as for infrastructure. Johnson’s senior adviser, Jason Lee, is also Black.
“Considering these remarks, I have authorized an investigation to determine whether the City of Chicago is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination,” Dhillon wrote. “If these kinds of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions.”
Johnson also routinely praises diversity, equity and inclusion, which has been targeted by the Trump administration.
Shortly after Trump returned to office, his administration sued Illinois, Chicago and Cook County officials to overturn laws designed to protect undocumented immigrants by prohibiting state local law enforcement officials from helping federal agents. That suit remains pending.
Johnson has repeatedly said Chicago and Illinois will continue to prohibit local and state law enforcement agents from helping Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deport undocumented residents unless they have been convicted of a crime.
Hanging in the balance is approximately $3.5 billion in new and existing federal grant dollars that Chicago officials expect to receive in 2025. The city’s 2025 budget is $17.1 billion.
Those threats amount to terrorism, Johnson said April 15.
“Trying to force your will to break the spirit of working people in order to have a conversation, that’s terrorism. We’re not going to negotiate with terrorists,” Johnson said.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]