Mayor Johnson discusses mass exodus of senior staffers, upcoming testimony on sanctuary laws
Mayor Brandon Johnson spoke on Tuesday on a number of issues that have made headlines in recent weeks – from his upcoming testimony before Congress on sanctuary laws to the mass exodus of senior staffers last week to the City Hall gift room his team won't allow reporters access to.
Last Thursday, Johnson's office announced Aviation Commissioner Jamie Rhee and Office of Emergency Management and Communications Executive Director Jose Tirado both were on their way out. Civilian Office of Police Accountability Chief Administrator Andrea Kersten announced her resignation the same day.
While none of the moves was termed as a firing, the announcements came just days after Johnson had warned he would be removing some top staffers, saying he wished he "would have cleaned house faster" after taking office in 2023, adding, "If you ain't with us, you just gotta go."
In his first public comments since the mass exodus, Johnson said, "there might be more people who plan on retiring."
"There have been a number of people who have resigned since I've taken office. These aren't the first resignations," Johnson added.
Johnson's critics have said threats and intimidation are behind the shuffle in his City Hall cabinet.
Meantime, in two weeks, Johnson and three other big city mayors head to Washington, D.C., to defend their sanctuary city status.
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) also wants city "documents and communications related to their cities' sanctuary policies."
But which specific documents Comer is seeking might become an issue.
"There are a number of documents that we are now trying to centralize and organize, so that we show up with what this committee is expecting. So as we continue to get a better understanding from the chair of the committee and members of the committee which documents they wish for us to show up with, I always do my homework, right? And we will continue to do that," Johnson said.
This comes days after the Justice Department sued the city and state, threatening funding over their sanctuary city policies, claiming they violate federal law.
It's unclear if that lawsuit might preclude Johnson from answering certain questions.
And three weeks after promising access, the Johnson team as of Tuesday was still refusing to let reporters into the City Hall gift closet, where the mayor's staff is said to keep hundreds of gifts presented to the Johnson and the city.
Last month, the city's inspector general issued a report showing most of those gifts lack proper notes on who gave gifts like designer handbags and cufflinks. Johnson's team last week published a 21-second video of the room and outlined new rules for reporting gifts given to the mayor and the city.
Johnson defended his administration's continued refusal to allow reporters inside the gift room.
"You do have access to it. There's a public log. We put out a video. We'll do that on a regular basis. That's unprecedented. No other administration has done that," he said.
On other issues, Johnson said his office has not been given a number of how many federal immigration arrests have been made in recent weeks.
His final school board pick also was made on Tuesday – Cydney Wallace is a CPS parent on the South Side.
And as Gov. JB Pritzker lays out his 2026 budget plan on Wednesday, the mayor said additional funding for the Chicago Public Schools and CTA top his concerns in Chicago.
