The shutdown magnified partisan divisions in Washington as Trump took unprecedented unilateral actions — including canceling projects and trying to fire federal workers — to pressure Democrats into relenting on their demands.

Crime in Chicago has been dropping significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic began to wane in 2022, a trend that accelerated after Mayor Brandon Johnson took office in May 2023 and has continued since, according to Chicago Police Department data.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s 2026 budget proposal includes a controversial head tax he hopes will generate $100 million to fund violence prevention and youth employment programs in the city.

Most first-time homebuyers in the United States take out 30-year mortgages. Under a new proposal from the Trump administration, they may soon have an even longer loan option.

Chicago Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin is running to represent Illinois’ 7th Congressional District and replace retiring U.S. Rep. Danny K. Davis.

The emails made public by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee also include one that Epstein wrote in 2011 in which he said Trump had “spent hours” at Epstein’s house with a victim of sex trafficking.

A marathon session before the City Council’s Budget and Government Operations Committee on Monday made it clear there is no easy way to bridge the city’s $1.19 billion projected shortfall, leaving alderpeople across the political spectrum frustrated as the budget debate hits a tipping point.

As national attention focused on Chicago, federal immigration agents carried out a wave of raids across the suburbs, sparking outrage and fear in communities including Aurora and Evanston. Local leaders say the aggressive actions and lack of transparency have left residents shaken and demanding accountability.

The order, which is three sentences long and comes with no explanation on the court’s thinking, will expire just before midnight Thursday.

As the city honors Veterans Day, some local veterans are fearful of potential impacts to services amid staffing reductions and other sweeping federal cuts across the government.

As Chicago-area veterans gathered Tuesday to commemorate Veterans Day around the city, some used the opportunity to speak out about the government’s failure to care for veterans, as well as to sound the alarm about what some described as attacks against democracy.

Darren Bailey said he received encouragement from President Donald Trump to “keep fighting” and stay in the race. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Bailey said.

Gregory Bovino, the top Border Patrol official leading the charge on the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in cities, along with his agents, are planning to leave Chicago as early as this week.

The 41-day shutdown could last a few more days as members of the House, which has been on recess since mid-September, return to Washington to vote on the legislation.

Terminally ill people in Illinois may soon be able to end their lives with medical assistance. State lawmakers recently passed a controversial medical-aid-in-dying bill, which now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.

Some air traffic controllers — unpaid for nearly a month — have stopped showing up, citing the added stress and need to take second jobs.