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For Immediate Release
October, 08 2025, 03:10pm EDT
Contact:
Phone: 312-329-9100
CTU Denounces President Trump’s Targeting of Chicago’s Mayor
Call for Johnson’s Arrest is Latest Sign Trump is Waging War on Successful Black Political Power, Using Government for Personal Agenda, Unfit for Office
CHICAGO
In response to Donald Trump calling for the arrest of Brandon Johnson, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates cited the city’s 1850 council resolution calling on local police to not aid and abet fugitive slave patrols, and denounced Trump’s targeting, claiming it is making everyone less safe.
“A hundred and seventy five years after Chicago passed resolutions refusing to aid and abet fugitive slave patrols, we have a mayor who is taking every step to once again protect Chicagoans from lawless capture and we have a sitting President who is attacking him for it. Sen. Stephen Douglas denounced Chicago for refusing to support the agents deployed to take away Chicagoans’ liberties and Trump is doing the same today.
Our democratically-elected mayor is making our city safer by keeping a bright line between local government and the lawless invasion of our city being carried out at the order of the President. He should be celebrated and protected for it.
Whether Trump is in his right mind and intentionally shredding the constitution or is unwell mentally, his newest level of attack on our city and our elected mayor is more evidence that he is unfit for office and must be stopped.”
An affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT), CTU is the third largest teachers local in the country and the largest local union in Illinois.
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'Ready to Fight for Us': Schumer and Jeffries Still Haven't, But Sierra Club Endorses Zohran Mamdani
“Time and again, as a candidate and an elected leader, Zohran has worked to put our people and our planet first."
Oct 08, 2025
Citing New York Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani's "strong record of standing up to fossil fuel interests," the Sierra Club on Wednesday announced its endorsement of Mamdani's Democratic New York City mayoral campaign.
The nationwide grassroots environmental protection group applauded the progressive lawmaker's work to lower emissions in the city, where he represents the state's 36th District, including through his support for the Build Public Renewables Act and the All-Electric Buildings Act. Mamdani also led the way to stop fossil fuel company NRG from building a fracked gas power plant in his district in Astoria, Queens—holding rallies and organizing a postcard-writing campaign.
Expanding New York City's first successful fare-free bus pilot program is also a key tenet of Mamdani's campaign platform. The lawmaker helped create the program, which has reduced the city's vehicle emissions, with 11% of new riders reporting that they chose to ride the bus instead of a car or taxi like they had previously.
“Throughout his time in elected office, Zohran Mamdani has been a champion of protecting the environment and public health, and his vision for New York City is centered on achieving both of those goals by expanding access to clean energy—the most effective way to lower costs and protect New Yorkers,” said Karl Palmquist, chair of the Sierra Club Atlantic chapter’s New York City group. “When Sierra Club members and supporters took up a critical fight to protect Astoria and its residents from expanded fracked gas plants, it was Assembly Member Mamdani standing shoulder-to-shoulder with us in the streets and in community meetings."
Mamdani has proposed building out renewable energy infrastructure on the city's public lands and using a multi-agency approach to tackle extreme heat, and has pledged to "firmly oppose" ConEd's plan to raise utility rates by over 10%.
“Zohran Mamdani has taken on the utilities and fought back rate hikes, stood up to corporate polluters, and led the charge for the expansion of public renewables,” said Loren Blackford, executive director of the Sierra Club.
Mamdani's Green Schools for a Healthier New York City program would also renovate 500 public schools with renewable energy infrastructure, transform 500 asphalt schoolyards into "vibrant green spaces," and create 15,000 union jobs.
“Time and again, as a candidate and an elected leader, Zohran has worked to put our people and our planet first. On behalf of the thousands of our members and supporters here in my home city of New York, the Sierra Club is proud to endorse Zohran Mamdani in his campaign for mayor," said Blackford.
The group's endorsement came four weeks before the city's mayoral election on November 4. Early voting begins October 25 and will continue through November 2.
Mamdani faces Republican Curtis Sliwa in the heavily Democratic city. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who resigned in 2021 after being accused of sexual harassment by at least 11 women, is also running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani.
A poll released Tuesday by the Hispanic Federation found Mamdani leading in the three-way race with 48% of the vote. Cuomo had 24% of the vote while Sliwa had 13%. A poll taken last month by The New York Times, before Mayor Eric Adams exited the race, found Mamdani with a 22-point lead over Cuomo.
Despite Mamdani's commanding lead and New Yorkers' display of enthusiasm for the democratic socialist and his platform, which is heavily focused on making the city more affordable for working people, top Democratic leaders have yet to join a growing number of lawmakers, unions, and rights groups in endorsing the party's candidate.
New York Democrats including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand have yet to endorse Mamdani.
Palmquist emphasized that Mamdani is "ready to fight for us because he’s been fighting for us."
We look forward to electing Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s next mayor," he said.
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Pritzker Warns Trump Will Have Military Seize Ballot Boxes So He Can 'Count the Votes Himself' in Elections
"Come and get me," the Illinois governor said when asked about the president's call to have him arrested.
Oct 08, 2025
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker issued a new warning on Wednesday about President Donald Trump's efforts to deploy the American military in US cities against the wishes of local elected officials.
Hours after Trump called for Pritzker's imprisonment in a Wednesday morning Truth Social post, the Illinois governor claimed in an interview with MSNBC that the president's ultimate goal with sending troops into US cities was to control the outcomes of future elections.
"He wants to militarize major cities across the United States, especially blue cities in blue states, because he wants us to get used to the idea of military on the streets," he said. "2026 elections, I believe he's going to post people outside ballot boxes and polling places, and, if he needs to in order to control those elections, he'll assume control of the ballot boxes and count the votes himself."
Pritzker pointed out that Trump considered ordering the military to seize ballot boxes after he lost the 2020 presidential election, but he was met with resistance from officials in his own administration.
However, Pritzker said that "I believe he would do it in 2026" to help Republicans maintain control of Congress.
Pritzker: "He wants to militarize major cities across the US, especially blue cities in blue states, because he wants us to get used to the idea of troops on the streets. I believe he's gonna post people outside of ballot boxes and polling places and if he needs to in order to… pic.twitter.com/hIyz41tsAb
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 8, 2025
Pritzker also struck a defiant tone when asked about Trump's call to imprison him.
"This guy's a convicted felon who's threatening to jail me!" he exclaimed. "This guy is unhinged. He's insecure. He's a wannabe dictator. And there's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump: If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me."
Pritzker: "This guy is unhinged. He's insecure. He's a wannabe dictator. And there's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump. If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me." pic.twitter.com/3QBrovBpZs
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 8, 2025
Pritzker's remarks come as Trump and his administration have deployed Texas National Guard soldiers to Chicago over the objections of both Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. The state and city are challenging the deployment in court.
Federal immigration officials have been employing increasingly aggressive and violent tactics in the Chicago area in recent weeks, including attacking a journalist and a protesting priest with pepper balls outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility; slamming a congressional candidate to the ground; dragging US citizens, including children, out of their homes during a raid in the middle of the night; and fatally shooting a man during a traffic stop.
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Trump Admin Has Hired 100+ 'Fossil Fuel Insiders' to Fill Top Energy, Environmental Agency Roles
One of them described her job as offering “concierge, white-glove service” to oil, gas, and coal companies seeking permits from regulators.
Oct 08, 2025
A top energy adviser to President Donald Trump admitted in an August interview that the administration is offering "concierge, white-glove service" to fossil fuel companies while blocking and defunding clean energy projects.
The comments, reported Tuesday by the Washington Post, came from Brittany Kelm, a senior policy adviser for Trump's National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC), which was established within the Department of the Interior in February.
"We're like this little tiger team, concierge, white-glove service, essentially," Kelm said on the Lobby Shop podcast, "We were put together very particularly with the president's priorities in mind on energy. So keeping coal plants open, establishing critical mineral mining domestically, and then that broader supply chain."
She described her role in the council as being to help oil, gas, and coal companies navigate "the politicals" of agencies that grant permits for new projects. Companies, she said, "can walk out of our office, and they have all the contacts they need" for regulators in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the departments of the Interior and Commerce.
"We know how to unstick what is stuck," Kelm said. "It's a lot of undoing old policies and getting rid of regulatory burdens."
Mahyar Sorour, the director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Fossil Fuels policy project, responded: "The reality of fossil fuel companies getting white-glove, concierge service from the Trump administration would be comical if it weren't so sinister."
"During the election," she continued, "Trump told oil and gas executives that he would clear the way for more production without any safeguards if they gave his campaign a billion dollars—they did, and now Trump is blocking clean energy and giving the oil and gas industry immense handouts in return."
Since retaking office in January, Trump has sought to expand the production of oil, gas, and coal with reckless abandon, without regard to the impacts of carbon emissions on the planet or other environmental impacts of pollution.
As the rest of the world has surged its use of wind and solar projects, surpassing coal for the first time this year, the Department of Energy made a $625 million investment to "expand and reinvigorate the coal industry," which is the dirtiest form of energy.
And July's massive GOP budget contained billions of dollars worth of handouts for the fossil fuel industry, boosted drilling on millions of acres of public lands, mandated oil and gas lease sales, and imposed new fees on renewable development.
At the same time, Trump has singlehandedly reduced the US's growth outlook for renewables by 45%, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
As the Post reports:
His administration has held up permits for solar and wind projects since July and blocked wind farms outright. The Energy Department last week canceled $7.6 billion in funding for projects aimed at curbing climate change including installation of renewables, grid upgrades and carbon capture projects. That's on top of $27 billion in funding for clean energy that the Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to claw back.
Alan Zibel, an energy and environmental policy researcher for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, joked that while the "White House rolls out 'concierge, white-glove service' for fossil fuels... wind and solar aren't even allowed inside the Motel 6."
This is put on stark display by a report co-authored by Zibel, and released Monday by Public Citizen and the Revolving Door Project, which found that, under Trump, the agencies in charge of regulating energy and environmental policy "have made dozens of hires from the fossil fuel sector, mining conglomerates, and other polluting industries, as well as others who are well-paid to support a dirty energy agenda, such as corporate lawyers and the staffers from far-right think tanks directly tied to Trump's dirty energy agenda."
The report examined 111 executive branch appointees tasked with energy and environmental policymaking across nine agencies and found that 43 are former employees of fossil fuel companies.
While the EPA and Energy Department are each crawling with more than a dozen industry plants, no agency has more than the Interior Department, which has 32 in total.
One of them is Kelm herself, who, according to the report, "has spent her entire career working in Big Oil, most recently doing corporate relations for Shell, and previously in policy for Valero, community affairs for Noble Energy, and other roles for Texas-based oil companies like EnCore Permian and the Permian Basin Petroleum Association."
Far from just lower-level appointees, several agency heads have direct industry ties. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright was formerly the CEO of the hydraulic fracking company Liberty Energy and, according to the report, "regularly makes public statements that downplay the effects of climate change, carbon pollution, and the environmental impacts of fracking."
The administration also contains at least 14 corporate lawyers who worked for fossil fuel interests. David Fotouhi, the assistant secretary of the EPA, formerly worked as a lawyer at Gibson Dunn, which has represented oil and gas giants like the American Petroleum Institute, ConocoPhillips, and Energy Transfer. The law firm also helped to advise polluters like Chevron on how to beat lawsuits from state and local governments seeking to hold them legally liable for spreading misinformation about the climate crisis.
The administration also includes at least 12 officials directly handpicked from right-wing think tanks backed by fossil fuel money. Brooke Rollins, secretary of the Department of Agriculture (USDA), helped found the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) in 2021 with Texas oil billionaire and GOP megadonor Tim Dunn.
The oilman funded Rollins' organization to the tune of $400,000, with the explicit goal of staffing the next Republican administration with appointees who would gut US climate policy.
"It would be ideal if we could get rid of this ‘CO2 as a pollutant' business," Dunn said at an AFPI event in 2023.
"Texas-based billionaires have taken over the Trump administration, providing a steady stream of staffers and an extreme set of policy ideas that consciously favors the most polluting forms of energy," said Toni Aguilar Rosenthal, a senior researcher with the Revolving Door Project. "Trump's policies aid the fossil fuel industry's exploitation of the public sphere for private profit while simultaneously sabotaging renewables and ensuring that the US remains trapped in a dirty energy economy."
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