Johnson's D.C. performance earned him high marks
The mayor's homework paid off, but the committee members weren't interested truths
There are a host of ways to describe how the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee addressed Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and three other mayors from Boston, Denver and New York City during a March 5 hearing in D.C. The four were invited to testify about the “sanctuary” status of their cities.
Old school signifying is probably the perfect way to recount how the Republican-dominated committee members addressed Mayors Eric Adams (New York), Mike Johnston (Denver), Michelle Wu (Boston) and Johnson. It was startling to see a Congresswoman tell Johnson “You suck at answering questions.”
Congressman Darrin LaHood of Illinois took the hearing further off the rails by noting Johnson’s 6.6 approval rating- a matter that had nothing to do with Chicago’s status as a sanctuary city-maybe some Chicagoans are unhappy with his overall performance, but the linchpin is not the sanctuary city. That status is not the result of anything this mayor implemented.
One has to wonder if LaHood was possibly laying preliminary steps to run for the U.S. Senate seat if incumbent Dick Durbin chooses not to run for re-election. Johnson maintained the decorum that was fitting for the hearing room, even when a couple of other committee members zinged him with accusations about the city’s gift room on the fifth floor of city hall-in trying to create a tenuous nexus to the sanctuary city status.
In the few instances where Johnson took umbrage to question, both he and that particular U.S. Representative were both out-of-line, talking over each other. Johnson’s prep work for the hearing was evident as instead of the verbose answers we have become accustomed to hearing; he was extremely succinct in his answers to committee members.
The hearing essentially was little more than D.C. theatre, and a not-so subtle attempt to curry favor with the President. Before the end of the day, the Trump Administration announced it was withdrawing support in Chicago by selling some of its federal buildings.
One Congresswoman offered she was going to ask the Department of Justice to initiate investigations against the four mayors. Her claim is their cities’ stances on sanctuary cities is an obstruction of justice.
The next day it was announced the Chicago Small Business Administration operations will cease. Those are clear indications that before any of the four mayors set foot inside the hearing room their cities were going to be punished economically. Thousands of federal workers will soon be out of jobs.
Maybe Johnson and the other mayors realized this when they agreed to testify; and maybe they all also realized how their absence or refusal to testify would be turned against them; and the Republicans could declare the mayors didn’t care enough to “defend” their cities.
The GOP certainly is showing a unified front as a day after the DC hearings, Republicans in Springfield are asking the Dems to have Johnson appear there for a similar hearing. The GOP leadership deemed the mayor’s testimony “evasive.” There is no point in Johnson agreeing to this request.