Chicago mayor calls DOJ investigation into hiring a 'clear demonstration' of intimidation

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson accused the Trump administration on Sunday of bullying his city after the Department of Justice (DOJ) flagged it for potential racial discrimination in hiring city workers.

"This is a clear demonstration of not just animus, but intimidation," Johnson said during an interview on MSNBC's "The Weekend."

The DOJ's Civil Rights Division launched an investigation into the city's hiring practices on Monday after Johnson touted Black city leaders during remarks at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago last weekend.

"There are some detractors that will try and push back on me and say, 'The only thing the mayor talks about is the hiring of Black people.' No. What I’m saying is, when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else," Johnson, who is Black, told the congregation in remarks that went viral online.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon sent a letter to Johnson on Monday that cited those remarks as "suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race."

"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," Dhillon, an ally of President Trump who unsuccessfully ran to lead the Republican National Committee in 2023, wrote in the letter. "We intend to consider all relevant information, and we welcome your assistance in helping to identify what that might be."

Johnson called the move "dramatic" and accused Trump of trying to "stifle and silence the voice of resistance."

"We remain firm that we will not be intimidated by this tyrant," Johnson said. "His actions have certainly been inimical to the interest of working people, but we're not going to cower to his hostility."