Happy Thursday, Illinois. Today is the state funeral of President Jimmy Carter. In attendance will be Gov. JB Pritzker.
TOP TALKER
The newly renovated Illinois Senate chambers revealed a stained-glass centerpiece that has been gone since a fire in the 1930s. | Shia Kapos/POLITICO
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Legislative action has already started for the next Illinois General Assembly after Wednesday's inauguration celebrations that included lots of oohs and ahhs at the newly renovated Senate chambers.
Recall recall: State Rep. La Shawn Ford has filed a bill that would establish “a procedure for a special recall election” for the mayor of Chicago. It’s the same bill he’s filed every year since 2015, though it’s likely to raise eyebrows this time as Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson has faced persistent criticism, dreary polling numbers and a failed independent recall effort.
To the bill: “I’ve filed this every General assembly since Laquan McDonald was assassinated and Rahm Emanuel was mayor. This is nothing new, and it’s not personal. It’s about good policy,” Ford told Playbook of the legislation that has yet to get approval from Illinois lawmakers. “I think there should be a mechanism in place to allow for voters to recall the mayor of the city of Chicago.”
Ford even filed the bill the year he ran for mayor in 2019.
House Bill 1084 would also spell out the process for “a special successor election or special runoff election” to occur after a successful recall.
HEARD AT THE CAPITOL RAIL: There’s buzz that more changes loom for House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch's administrative team — as in swapping in some new committee chairs.
His spokesman responded with a cryptic message: “no news there.” We’ll wait and see.
ABOUT THE INAUGURATION. The two ceremonies — one for the House and one for the Senate — were notable for their pomp and circumstance and thoughtful messages about unity and getting along, whether its with your own party or the folks across the aisle.
AFTER THE POMP: Gov. JB Pritzker held a press conference at which he turned the page on the tension that had enveloped the Capitol earlier in the week over a hemp bill that failed, in spite of his support.
“Every day’s a new day to do the right thing,” Pritzker said in his ceremonial office at the state Capitol. “Look, people can make mistakes. And certainly mistakes were made, and behavior was improper during that caucus. But people can make amends and we can all move on.”
Renegades: State Reps. Adam Niemerg, Blaine Wilhour, Chris Miller and Brad Halbrook, all members of the conservative Illinois Freedom Caucus, and a few other "like-minded Republicans" were sworn in at the Capitol instead of the University of Illinois Springfield campus with the rest of the state reps. They wanted to send a message that they're opposed to "political theater."
THE BUZZ
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan leaves the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in Chicago, during his ongoing corruption trial on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. | Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune via AP
If you are Emanuel "Chris" Welch, Playbook would like to hear from you! Email: skapos@politico.com
WHERE'S JB
In Washington to attend President Jimmy Carter’s state funeral
WHERE's BRANDON
No official public events
Where's Toni
In Springfield in the morning to meet members of the General Assembly — At the Chicago Cultural Center at 6 p.m. to give remarks at the Civic Leadership Academy welcome ceremony
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Transition Watch
D.C, BOUND: President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet is shaping up with little high-profile influence from Illinois. Still, three people with Land of Lincoln connections have been tapped for his administration.
Brian Burch, a co-founder of the conservative CatholicVote, a faith-based advocacy group that’s not officially connected to the Catholic Church, has been picked to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the Holy See. Burch is president of the Seton Montessori School board in Villa Park. He lives with his wife, Sara, and nine children in the western suburbs, via the Sun-Times.
Kelly Loeffler, an Illinois native who served briefly as a senator from Georgia, has been selected to head the Small Business Administration. Loeffler was born in Bloomington and raised on her family's farm near Stanford before leaving the state.
Scott Turner, a Texas native who played four years of football and ran track and field for the Fighting Illini, has been tapped to be secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
We’re wondering whether Trump will name former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to a post. Maybe ambassador to Serbia? Blagojevich’s corruption sentence was commuted by Trump.
It wouldn’t have precedence: Charles Kushner was pardoned by Trump and has been named an incoming ambassador to France.
— Board of Ethics said it did not give Mayor Brandon Johnson an opinion about CPS leave: The Chicago Board of Ethics has “no documents showing any written opinions” about Johnson taking a leave of absence from CPS, nor has it ever issued any written or oral opinions or guidance about CPS leaves by city officials or employees — even though the mayor’s office said it got such an opinion, by the Tribune’s Nell Salzman, Alice Yin and Gregory Royal Pratt.
— ANALYSIS | Johnson running out of time for course correction with Pritzker, City Council: “An already contentious relationship still can be salvaged if a mayor and governor who need each other to solve their respective budget troubles start communicating frequently and privately, instead of taking public shots at one another,” by the Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman.
— Bruce DuMont, the longtime radio host, is closing the book on his “Beyond The Beltway” program, which has run since 1980, he told friends and followers in an email. The politics show started locally in Chicago on WBEZ and jumped to different stations before becoming a nationally syndicated show. The program leaned right, but DuMont always wanted to hear from a broad range of views.
— Elizabeth Grossman, who heads Chicago – Common Cause Illinois, has been elected to a four-year term as an independent director to the USA Weightlifting board of directors. She’s not a weightlifter but was recruited to the volunteer board position for her legal and policy expertise.
Reader Digest
We asked what country you’d annex to the U.S.
Matthew Beaudet: “I have extended family in Canada but would only welcome annexation if it was the will of the Canadian people.”
Graham Grady: “Venezuela because it has the largest oil reserves in the world, with over 300 billion barrels as of 2023. Due to politics, corruption and ineptitude, Venezuela has not been able to monetize its oil effectively.”
Lucas Hawley: “Ireland!”
Charles Keller: “If you can pick up Greenland for a few thousand DOGE coins then go for it.”
James Straus: “Portugal.”
Patricia Ann Watson: “Every country that’s part of North America to become the ‘United States and Countries of North America’. Might as well go full tilt.”
Next question: What's the biggest funeral you've ever attended? Email skapos@politico.com
KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION
— Congresswoman Lauren Underwood joins Democratic doctors in the House in a new caucus. It’s a reaction to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being tapped to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, via POLITICO’s Daniel Payne.
— Jara Kern has been promoted to president of M. Harris & Co.
— Kate Campbell has been promoted to partner in Neal Gerber Eisenberg’s intellectual property group.
— Leif Sigmond will be the next partner-in-charge of BakerHostetler’s Chicago office, succeeding Ronald Okada. Sigmond also serves as firmwide co-chair of the firm’s patent litigation team and co-chair of the nationwide software industry team.
—Richard “Richie” Catalano has joined Honigman as a partner in the firm’s transactions and counseling practice group and corporate department in Chicago. He was an attorney with Ballard Spahr.
EVENTS
— Friday and Saturday: “The Chicago Bar Show” is back with 50+ Chicago Bar Association attorneys in a musical revue that parodies local and national political figures, including Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi and Robert Kennedy Jr. Tickets here
— Saturday: The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum hosts its annual Founders Day event showcasing the museum’s work. Details here
— Jan. 15: The Chicago Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression will honor longtime activist Frank Chapman. Details here
— Jan. 20: Ald. Maria Hadden is holding a birthday fundraiser. Details here
TRIVIA
WEDNESDAY’s ANSWER: Congrats to Roger Flahaven for correctly answering that William Jennings Bryan, an Illinois native, was immortalized in a statue by Gutzon Borglum, the famed sculptor of Mount Rushmore.
TODAY’s QUESTION: What Illinois town was originally named Dunkley's Grove? Email skapos@politico.com
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Former University Park Mayor Vivian Covington, Jasculca Terman public affairs’ Jim Terman, Chicago Community Trust CEO Andrea Saenz and JPMorgan Chase Senior Associate Matthew Serafin.
