Good Tuesday morning, Illinois. It’s spring showers again.

ON THE ATTACK: President Donald Trump is making Chicago his punching bag again. This time it’s to call attention to his abhorrence for diversity in Chicago’s City Hall, led by Chicago’s Black Mayor Brandon Johnson.

The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into Johnson’s hiring practices based on comments the mayor made during a Q&A on Sunday at the Apostolic Church of God in the city’s Woodlawn neighborhood, according to a letter issued Monday.

The feds are investigating to determine whether the city is “engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination based on race” in its hiring decisions, according to the letter, which is basing the investigation on the mayor’s comments.

The reason: The mayor talked about hiring people of color.

What Johnson said: “There are some detractors who will push back on me and say the only thing the mayor talks about is the hiring of Black people,” Johnson said. “No. What I’m saying is, when you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else. We are the most generous people on the planet.” Watch the discussion here.

Officially speaking: Cassio Mendoza, Johnson’s press secretary, issued a statement: “Mayor Johnson is proud to have the most diverse administration in the history of our city. Our administration reflects the diversity and values of Chicago. Unfortunately, the current federal administration does not reflect either.”

By the numbers: The mayor’s office offered the racial makeup of his staff: 34 percent are Black, 30 percent are white, 23 percent are Hispanic, 7 percent are Asian and 5 percent are two or more ethnicities, via CBS 2.

This isn’t the first time Trump has attacked Chicago. During his first administration, the president would criticize the city for its crime problem. With those numbers on the decline, Trump seems to have shifted to another issue.

The latest poke took City Hall by surprise. “With everything going on in the world, why [is Trump] concerned about Chicago and our hiring practices?” Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. told the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman.

Burnett points out that the jobs drawing the federal scrutiny are “at-will” positions. The mayor “can hire who he wants to hire.”

Calling the kettle: “When you look at Trump’s administration, he’s only hired one African-American in his Cabinet,” Burnett said. “That’s what we need to look (at). There’s predominantly white males working for him. What he’s trying to do to the mayor, the mayor can probably do to him.”

From The New York Times: “The so-called pattern or practice investigation is the Trump administration’s latest effort to remake the Justice Department’s civil rights division, which has historically worked to fight discrimination against minorities, to investigate claims of hiring or other bias in favor of candidates who are Black, minorities or women.”

NOW THERE ARE THREE: On the heels of Congresswoman Lauren Underwood announcing she won’t run for Senate in 2026, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton are out with polling memos that show each would benefit from Underwood’s exit from the race that also includes Congresswoman Robin Kelly.

A poll conducted by GBAO, shows Krishnamoorthi with a lead that expands when Underwood isn’t in the race to replace retiring Sen. Dick Durbin. Krishnamoorthi is at 27 percent, Stratton at 18 percent and Kelly at 11 percent, and 36 percent are undecided, according to the memo. Here are the toplines.

The poll, commissioned by Krishnamoorthi’s camp, shows “Underwood’s supporters were more likely to select Raja as their second choice candidate than anyone else.”

But get this: A poll memo from the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association shows Stratton “emerges as the clear second choice among Underwood’s prospective supporters.” Here are the toplines.

The poll shows in a three-way match-up Stratton is at 33 percent, Krishnamoorthi at 20 percent and Kelly 11 percent. It also shows 42 percent of voters are undecided. The poll was conducted by Public Policy Polling.

Surprised/not surprised: Underwood had many weeks ago ramped up a campaign for a potential Senate bid. But the longer she waited to announce, it became more clear she might not run.

“When I reflected on the way that I could best serve families in Illinois and around the country, I really decided to stay in the House of Representatives,” the Democrat said Monday on CNN. Nodding to her leadership position, she said she’d seek to “help the DCCC as we seek to reclaim the majority.”

More here from POLITICO’s Nicholas Wu.

Underwood is a member of Democratic House leadership, and as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Recruitment co-chair, she is expected to play a key role in helping Democrats try to flip the House in 2026. “Congresswoman Underwood is playing a critical role in helping House Democrats communicate decisively with voters as we fight the reckless Republican budget scheme and work hard to win back the majority in 2026,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a statement.

The next big question: Who will compete among Republicans?

GOOD TAKE: Race for Durbin’s Senate seat ramps up as Lauren Underwood sticks with the House, by Lee Enterprises’ Brenden Moore.

ALSO ON THE TRAIL: State Sen. Robert Peters has deleted his social media posts on X.

Peters is a progressive who back in 2021 described himself as a Democratic Socialist and has posted content that is unabashedly left.

In 2023, he defended teens accused of rioting and looting in downtown Chicago as a protest, according to one of his posts.

Now that he’s running for Congress — hoping to win the seat held by Congresswoman Robin Kelly — Peters appears to be cleaning up his online persona.

Not so, says a person close to his campaign, adding that Peters isn’t trying to “recast” himself in any way. “There’s plenty of documentation about his views.”

The issue: Over the years, Peters mixed his personal and professional comments and now wants to “be more focused” as he runs for federal office.

If you are Lauren Underwood, Playbook would like to hear from you! Email: [email protected]

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— America’s college towns go from boom to bust: “Many state universities are losing more students every year, failing the local economies they once fostered,” reports The Wall Street Journal. “At Western Illinois University, an empty dorm that once held 800 students is now a police training ground, where active-shooter drills have left behind overturned furniture, rubber-tipped bullets and paintball casing. Nearby dorms have been razed to weedy fields.”

“It’s almost like you’re watching the town die,” said Kalib McGruder, who was born in Macomb and worked 28 years for the Western Illinois campus police department.

— Another small-town story: Belvidere aims for economic revival – but will Trump tariffs help? by The Christian Science Monitor’s Laurent Belsie

— ComEd customers to see rate increase this summer, by the Tribune’s Robert Channick and Addison Wright

— Trump administration cuts may end federal scrutiny of Illinois school where special ed kids often got arrested, by ProPublica’s Jennifer Smith Richards and Jodi S. Cohen

— Illinois ending swipe fees on tips and taxes this summer, by the State Journal-Register’s Claire Grant

— Repatriation of Native ancestors’ remains is paperwork-laden process, by Capitol News’ Bridgette Fox

— Johnson vowed last year to ‘cut the tape’ for developers: “The city has completed 48 of the 107 items identified in the early stages of the initiative, according to a progress tracker. That has sped up how long large projects spend going through the Plan Commission process and made it easier for smaller projects without opposition to receive special permits from the Zoning Board of Appeals,” by Crain’s Justin Laurence.

— City continues to prosecute DNC protesters, despite mounting losses and little punishment, by WBEZ’s Mariah Woelfel

— Chicago’s Venezuelan migrants face uncertainty after Supreme Court allows Trump to strip protected status, by the Tribune’s Laura Rodríguez Presa

— Accused child molester-priest says now-Pope Leo XIV OK’d his move to a South Side monastery near a school: “He’s the one who gave me permission to stay there” in 2000, James M. Ray, the former priest, told the Chicago Sun-Times about Robert Prevost, by the Sun-Times’ Robert Herguth and Kaitlin Washburn.

— VP Vance gifts Pope Leo XIV custom Chicago Bears jersey, via ABC 7

— White Sox to mark seat where Pope Leo XIV sat, unveiling artwork honoring longtime fan, by the Sun-Times’ Cindy Hernandez

— Arlington Heights mayor: Bears stadium not done deal, by the Daily Herald’s Christopher Placek

— South and southwest suburbs see population declines — but there are bright spots in census estimates, by the Daily Southtown’s Mike Nolan

— Napoleon Harris sworn in as Thornton Township supervisor, replaces Tiffany Henyard, by the Daily Southtown’s Olivia Stevens

— A plan to remove Lake Forest’s legal committee concerns residents, by the Pioneer Press’ Daniel Dorfman

DOGE DATA TRACKER: POLITICO just launched a new Pro tool to track the latest actions by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. A look at April and May alone reveals over 5,000 new contract, grant or lease cancellations. Pros can search new cuts, additions, and modifications by government agency, contractor, or congressional district. For access to exclusive reporting and tools like this, subscribe to POLITICO Pro or request a demo of our news service, directories and other products.

We asked if possible, what political issue would you solve overnight.

Robert Christie: “Extreme gerrymandering. Fairer, more competitive districts will let the voters decide who represents them and will reduce the number of members from the extreme wings of each party.”

Lucas Hawley: “The energy crisis and adopting multilateral diversity that includes nuclear, wind, solar, fracking, hydro, etc., because it can’t be solved with only one or two of them.”

Mike Johnson: “Anti-Trust … the proliferation of wealth redistribution from the workers (who build our economy) to the ultra-rich (who deploy armies of lawyers, lobbyists, accountants to disrupt markets) is unsustainable.”

Charles Keller: “Stop federal judges from restricting presidential power, particularly regarding nationwide injunctions and judicial review of executive actions. Because they were not placed in those positions to attack the executive branch.”

Kevin Lampe: “Increase voter turnout.”

Ed Mazur: “Sufficient support for colleges and universities because their products — grads and researchers — affect all Illinoisans in economic, social and political fashions.”

JuanPablo Prieto: “Campaign finance reform and publicly funded elections would allow us to have honest debates and solve every other issue.”

Mark Rosenberg: “Our nation began with the phrase ‘All men are created equal’ so my political issue is equality for all regardless of race, sex gender.”

Timothy Thomas: “Greater penalties for violators of election rules and procedures. All too often elections are decided by the size of the candidate’s treasury instead of their ability to legislate or govern.”

NEXT QUESTION: How do you think social media shapes the way we talk about politics today?

— Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski’s (IL-13) legislation, “Improving VA Training for Military Sexual Trauma Claims Act,” passed unanimously out of the House and now heads to the. Senate.

— Sen. Tammy Duckworth and Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin joined in introducing a bicameral and bipartisan resolution to mark May 2025 as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

— Feds charge New Jersey congressmember with assault, via POLITICO

— House GOP leaders want Trump to dissuade hard-liners on deeper Medicaid cuts, by POLITICO’s Meredith Lee Hill, Jake Traylor and Megan Messerly

— China’s head start on clean energy is shaping the debate on the Republicans’ megabill, by POLITICO’s Zack Colman and Karl Mathiesen

— Kimberly Walz, who works for McDonald’s government affairs team, and real estate pro Michael Madero, are the proud parents of Serafina Walz Madero, who arrived four weeks early but with a smile. Pic and pic!

MONDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Matthew Beaudet for correctly answering that 33 counties in Illinois reached their peak population between 1870 and 1900.

TODAY’s QUESTION: What was the first Illinois unit to see action in the Civil War? Email [email protected]

State Sen. Mary Edly-Allen, Elmwood Park Village President Angelo “Skip” Saviano, Mercury Public Affairs Managing Director Toi Hutchinson, Gray Space Strategies Partner Ami Copeland, lieutenant governor’s Deputy Chief of Staff Teresa Reyes Martinez, Governor’s Office Policy Director Jason Horwitz and Cook County legislative affairs exec Christina Rivero

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