As Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson prepares to be grilled in Washington along with other sanctuary city mayors, former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is signaling quite loudly that he is interested in becoming mayor again.

Emanuel was asked what was described as a "straight question" at the Economic Club of Chicago on Monday — would he consider running again for mayor of Chicago?

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again — I'm not done with public service, and I'm hoping public service is not done with me," Emanuel replied.

Just five weeks removed from his post as ambassador to Japan under President Biden, Chicago's former mayor is sounding very interested in running again. He said his answer to the question of whether he would run was not a no, but not a yes either.

 "I moved back. That should tell you a lot — doesn't require a lot of hermeneutics to understand that," Emanuel said. " I hope I can be an instrument for the city's growth."

Emanuel met with Mayor Johnson at City Hall three months into the current mayor's term.

Now, with Johnson near the halfway point in office — and amid very low approval ratings — Emanuel poked fun at Johnson during an appearance on "Real Time with Bill Maher" on HBO this past Friday night.

"I read that the current mayor of Chicago has an approval rating of 6.6%," Maher said to Emanuel, who was seated across from him alongside Fareed Zakaria for the panel discussion portion of the show. "You were just the ambassador to Japan. If that was your approval rating in Japan, they would do hara-kiri… I mean, what's going on in Chicago?"

Emanuel told Maher that mayors of several major cities are struggling because they are losing sight of values such as public safety and education.

"There is a general rule — I had this when I was mayor — safe streets, strong schools, stable finances. Focus on those three things and your city will be fine," Emanuel said. "We've gone through five years where people became way too permissive as a culture — which is why everything's locked up at Walgreens and CVS — and that is a disaster. And I'll say this about our schools — I don't want to hear another word about the locker room. I don't want to hear another word about the bathroom. You better start focusing on the classroom."

All this came as Mayor Johnson readies for the biggest political stage of his career this week. Johnson was already in Washington, D.C. Monday preparing for a tough room coming up on Wednesday, when the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expected to grill him and the mayors of, Denver, Boston and New York City over their sanctuary city status.

Johnson has consulted with former Mayor Lori Lightfoot — once his political opponent — and former Education Secretary Arne Duncan on how to put the city in the best light.

The current mayor was asked last week how he views the trip.

"I can't say I'm looking forward to it, but I will certainly say that when I get there, who I am is who I will remain," Johnson said last week.

As for Emanuel, his handling of the Laquan McDonald police shooting case has followed him. The teen was shot 16 times by then-Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014, but the video of the incident wasn't publicly released for more than a year.

Surrounded by a sea of political pressure in the wake of McDonald's shooting, Emanuel fired then-police chief Garry McCarthy. Ex-Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez lost her re-election bid.

In 2018, Van Dyke was found guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery. He served three and a half years of prison.

The Laquan McDonald shooting became an issue when Emanuel was being vetted for the Japan post. Emanuel has defended his handling the police shooting death of the 17-year-old.

It would certainly be an issue if Emanuel were run for mayor again.

Emanuel announced in October 2017 that he was going to run for a third term, but in September 2018, he made a surprise announcement that he had changed his mind. At the time, 11 candidates were already lined up to challenge Emanuel — including Lightfoot, who ultimately became his successor — and others hastily joined the race after Emanuel's announcement.

Emanuel worked in the White House for President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1998, rising to serve as senior advisor for policy and politics. He then served four terms in Congress representing Illinois' fifth congressional district, and was President Barack Obama's first chief of staff between November 2008 and October 2010.

At that point, Emanuel launched his run for mayor in Chicago — when then-Mayor Richard M. Daley made his own surprise announcement that he would not seek a seventh term. Emanuel won the election in February 2011 after fending off challenges to his residency from opponents who claimed he was ineligible to run for mayor after renting his home and moving his family to Washington to work for President Obama. 

Emanuel won a second term in 2015 after being forced into a runoff by Jesús G. "Chuy" García, who is now a U.S. congressman.

Mayor Johnson's term ends in 2027.