Politics
Mayor Brandon Johnson: ‘We’re Not Going to Be Intimidated’ By Justice Department Hiring Probe
Mayor Brandon Johnson addresses the news media on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)
Mayor Brandon Johnson said Tuesday his administration will not be intimidated by the decision of the U.S. Department of Justice to probe whether he improperly hired city employees because they are Black.
“We’re not going to be intimidated by the tyranny that’s coming from the federal government,” Johnson said. “The diversity of our city is our strength.”
Johnson, who has routinely touted his efforts to appoint the most racially diverse cabinet in Chicago history, did so again less than 24 hours after Assistant U.S. Attorney Harmeet Dhillon, the head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, launched a probe “to determine whether the City of Chicago, Illinois, is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race.”
Johnson said he was not surprised by the probe, and said the Trump administration “does not respect the rule of law.”
“My administration reflects the country, reflects the city,” Johnson said, after calling many of President Donald Trump’s appointees unqualified. “His administration reflects the country club.”
Johnson is being investigated for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the landmark legislation that outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin and ensured that Black Americans could vote and exercise other rights after decades of racial injustice.
“It is also clear that this administration is more interested in creating division within our county, while we are being inclusive,” Johnson said.
The city will not waver from its commitment to ensuring that Chicago is led by a diverse group of leaders, Johnson said.
“We’re not going to shy away or apologize for who we are,” Johnson said.
“This administration has obviously demonstrated a great deal of animus and disdain towards what is sensible about our country, that’s the diversity of our country,” Johnson said. “I’m very proud of the fact that we have one of the most, if not the most, diverse administrations in the history of Chicago.”
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.
Previous mayors did not do enough to ensure city government reflected Chicago’s racial diversity, Johnson said, pledging not to repeat those mistakes.
During the Sunday event with Brazier, Johnson 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.
During the news conference on Tuesday, Johnson touted his decision to appoint Latino Chicagoans to serve to as the head of the Department of Environment, as the city’s chief homelessness officer and as the head of the city’s Human Rights Commission as well as the CEO of the Chicago Park District. Latinos also as some of his closest advisers, including his chief of staff and the deputy mayor for immigrant rights.
“Is that offensive?” Johnson asked. “Why would that be offensive to anyone? That’s the celebration of who we are as a city.”
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
