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raja krishnamoorthi
Trump Says Chicago 'Probably Next' for National Guard Invasion
"If Trump wants to take his ego trip on tour, he picked the wrong city," said one senior Illinois official. "Chicago doesn't bow down to kings or roll out the red carpet for dictators."
Aug 23, 2025
US President Donald Trump said Friday that Chicago is the next city in his crosshairs for the kind of federal invasion and occupation currently underway in Washington, DC—a threat that sparked defiant pushback from officials in the Windy City and beyond.
"After we do this, we'll go to another location, and we'll make it safe also," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, referring to his federalization of Washington's Metropolitan Police Department and deployment of National Guard troops from the district and five Republican-controlled states.
"We're going to make our cities very, very safe. Chicago's a mess. You have an incompetent mayor. Grossly incompetent and we'll straighten that one out probably next," the president said, referring to progressive Brandon Johnson. "That will be our next one after this. And it won't even be tough."
On August 11, Trump dubiously declared a public safety emergency in Washington, DC, despite violent crime being down 26% from a year ago, when it was at its second-lowest level since 1966, according to official statistics. Critics have noted that Trump's crackdown isn't just targeting criminals, but also unhoused and mentally ill people, who have had their homes destroyed and property taken.
On Friday, Trump threatened to completely take over Washington and oust Mayor Muriel Bowser if she does not stop pointing out that crime has decreased in the city, which the president called a "crime-infested rat hole."
In addition to Chicago, Trump has threatened to send federal forces into cities including Baltimore, Los Angeles, New York, Oakland, and San Francisco. Violent crime is trending downward in all of those cities—with some registering historically low levels.
Unlike in Washington, DC, where home rule laws allow the federal government to take control of local police, Trump would face greater obstacles to intervention in other cities.
"President Trump can't seize control of the Chicago police or any other local department outside of DC," Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) noted on social media Friday. "The military cannot and will not patrol the streets of Chicago, and I will work with state and local officials to ensure that doesn't happen."
Mayor Johnson said in a statement that "the problem with the president's approach is that it is uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound."
"If the Trump administration is serious about driving down violence in Chicago, or anywhere else in America, then he should not have taken over $800 million away from violence prevention," he added.
Other elected officials in Illinois also expressed anger and alarm at the prospect of a Trump intervention in Chicago.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul issued the following statement in response to comments President Trump made today threatening to deploy federal law enforcement to perform civilian law enforcement duties in the city of Chicago: tinyurl.com/5n89nt86
[image or embed]
— Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul (@ilattygeneral.bsky.social) August 22, 2025 at 5:01 PM
"After using Los Angeles and Washington, DC as his testing ground for authoritarian overreach, Trump is now openly flirting with the idea of taking over other states and cities," Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said on X.
"Trump's goal is to incite fear in our communities and destabilize existing public safety efforts—all to create a justification to further abuse his power," the governor continued. "He's playing a game and creating a spectacle for the press to play along with."
"We don't play those games," Pritzker added. "Our commitment to law and order is delivering results. Crime rates are improving. Homicides are down by more than 30% in Chicago in the last year alone. Our progress in lowering crime has been made possible with [community violence intervention] programs that they’re defunding."
Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, a Democrat running for US Senate, said that "if Trump wants to take his ego trip on tour, he picked the wrong city."
"Chicago doesn't bow down to kings or roll out the red carpet for dictators," she added. "As a Black woman from the South Side, I can assure you... your political circus isn't welcome here."
Congresswoman Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) wrote on social media, "President Trump: You are not welcome in Chicago."
"Sending the National Guard endangers Black communities already overpoliced and under-invested in," she added. "If you cared about saving lives, you'd pass gun safety laws and fund community violence intervention."
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Suspect in Custody After Five Soldiers Shot at Georgia's Fort Stewart
Sen. Raphael Warnock said he was "heartbroken to see the news of an active shooter incident at Fort Stewart today" and that he would "join all of Georgia as we pray for the safety of our service members, staff, and their families."
Aug 06, 2025
A U.S. Army sergeant is in custody as a suspect in a mass shooting at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
As reported by The Associated Press, the suspect opened fire on Wednesday morning and shot five of his fellow military personnel at Fort Stewart, one of the largest military bases in the U.S.
At this time, law enforcement officials have not identified the name of the suspect nor have they released specifics about the current conditions of the five soldiers who were shot. However, the base announced in a social media post that those wounded in the shooting have since been treated and transferred to Winn Army Community Hospital.
The shooting caused the entire base to go into lockdown for roughly an hour before law enforcement officials apprehended the suspect and determined there was no further threat to the community.
Several elected officials weighed in on the shooting shortly after the news broke. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said he was "heartbroken to see the news of an active shooter incident" and that he would "join all of Georgia as we pray for the safety of our service members, staff, and their families."
Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) also commented on the shooting in a post on X.
"My heart is with the loved ones of the victims from the shooting that took place at Fort Stewart in Georgia," he said . "Our service members deserve to be safe in the country they sacrifice so much for. We must work to end the gun violence epidemic that has reached every corner of our society."
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said he was "heartbroken" to learn of the shooting and that his thoughts were "with the injured soldiers, their families, and the entire military community during this difficult time."
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Bill Would Subject Lawmakers to Same Work Reporting Mandates GOP Just Imposed on Medicaid, SNAP Recipients
"If congressional Republicans think these burdens are appropriate for struggling families, then members of Congress should shoulder them too," said BURDEN Act sponsor Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi.
Jul 17, 2025
In response to Republicans' new law giving tax breaks to the rich while gutting the social safety net, U.S. Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi on Thursday introduced legislation that would force members of Congress "to personally comply with the same burdensome work requirement paperwork they imposed on low-income Americans."
Under the Illinois Democrat's Bringing Unfair Reporting Duties to Electeds Now (BURDEN) Act, federal lawmakers "would be barred from enrolling in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program unless they submit monthly proof of 'community engagement,' the same bureaucratic reporting required of Medicaid recipients," his office said.
Krishnamoorthi's two-page bill would also force members of Congress to file the same paperwork as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to verify eligibility, employment, and income. The proposal comes less than two weeks after President Donald Trump signed congressional Republicans' budget reconciliation package.
During the debate over the GOP megabill, Matt Bruenig, founder of the People's Policy Project, argued in The New York Times that "refusing medical care to people in their time of need based on how much they happened to work the month before is a cruel and pointless policy."
The so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act is expected to leave 17 million Americans without health insurance, and, according to an Urban Institute analysis, an estimated 22.3 million families are projected to lose some or all of their SNAP benefits.
"President Trump's reckless 'Large Lousy Law' forces millions of vulnerable Americans to jump through hoops just to keep food on the table or get the medical care they need," Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. "If congressional Republicans think these burdens are appropriate for struggling families, then members of Congress should shoulder them too. The BURDEN Act simply says, if you want taxpayer-funded health coverage, prove you meet the same standards you're imposing on the American people."
Krishnamoorthi's bill is unlikely to go anywhere in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, both controlled by the GOP, but it sends a message to the public. His office said that "by exposing the double standard in how burdensome requirements are applied, the BURDEN Act seeks to restore basic fairness and highlight the real-world consequences of Republican policies that target working families."
He introduced the bill amid intense debates among Democratic politicians and their supporters about how to battle Trump and the GOP's agenda and prepare for the 2026 midterm elections, following devastating losses for Democrats in the last cycle.
On Wednesday, the Congressional Progressive Caucus—of which Krishnamoorthi is not a member—announced four task forces as part of an effort to "reclaim the House majority in 2026—with a sharp, populist, pro-working-class agenda that meets the moment."
Similarly but separately, a coalition of labor groups and other progressive organizations on Wednesday launched the Battleground Alliance PAC, a political action committee that plans to pour at least $50 million into flipping the lower chamber for Democrats.
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