The Justice Department on Monday launched a civil rights investigation into whether Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration engaged in racial discrimination by prioritizing black candidates for top city roles.
The investigation, authorized by Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon, will look into whether Johnson’s public remarks and staffing decisions amount to a “pattern or practice” of discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, according to a letter sent Monday to his office.
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“Our investigation is based on information suggesting that you have made hiring decisions solely on the basis of race,” the letter from the DOJ’s civil rights division said. “In your remarks made yesterday at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn, you ‘highlight[ed] the number of Black officials in [your] administration.’ You then went on to list each of these individuals, emphasizing their race.”
During his Sunday speech at the Apostolic Church of God, Johnson said, “When you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else.”
“We are the most generous people on the planet,” he said, adding that supporting black leadership ensures “long-term sustainable growth” for the entire city.
Mayor Brandon Johnson: "The reason I hire so many blacks to run Chicago is because we're planet earth's most generous race" pic.twitter.com/b2qEzWOR5x
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 18, 2025
“Chief operations officer is a black man … Budget director is a black woman … Senior adviser is a black man,” Johnson touted during his conversation at the church.
The DOJ letter outlines Johnson’s emphasis on race in hiring decisions, saying, “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.”
The move marked a sharp escalation in the Trump administration’s effort to challenge race-conscious hiring policies at the local level. The department emphasized that no conclusions have been drawn and that the investigation will be thorough and impartial. DOJ officials asked Johnson to cooperate in setting the scope and schedule for the inquiry.
A spokesman from Johnson’s office responded with defiance.
“Mayor Johnson is proud to have the most diverse administration in the history of our city,” the spokesman told CBS News.
“Our administration reflects the diversity and values of Chicago. Unfortunately, the current federal administration does not reflect either,” he added.
Legal experts have suggested that the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision, in which it overturned the use of affirmative action for college admissions in a pair of landmark cases, has implications for employers, especially those that engage in diversity, equity, and inclusion practices that offer benefits to candidates based on their race or ethnicity.
The conservative law firm America First Legal, founded by President Donald Trump’s now-deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, has led several challenges to employers, such as Morgan Stanley, Pfizer, and Amazon, engaging in allegedly discriminatory DEI practices to roll back race-based hiring fellowships and internal training programs.
In April, Trump signed Executive Order 14281, directing federal agencies to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability in civil rights enforcement, including under Title VII. The order requires agencies such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to reassess investigations that rely on statistical disparities rather than evidence of intentional discrimination, aiming to restore a merit-based, race-neutral approach to equal opportunity.
The letter was also sent to the EEOC’s acting chair and other senior DOJ officials.
The Washington Examiner contacted Johnson’s office for comment.