Mayor Brandon Johnson has been in Washington DC since Sunday preparing for a high stakes congressional hearing Wednesday before a GOP-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He is prepping with a team from City Hall and a DC law firm. The committee invited the mayors of Chicago, New York, Boston and Denver to appear. Here are answers to FAQs on Johnson’s upcoming testimony.
Why is Mayor Brandon Johnson testifying in front of a congressional committee?
The GOP-led House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will convene for a hearing Wednesday with four Democratic sanctuary city mayors. The aim is to hold them “accountable” for not cooperating with President Donald Trump’s orders to carry out deportation raids.
According to committee Chairman James Comer R-Ky., the mayors will be asked to testify “to examine their refusal to cooperate with federal immigration authorities.” Comer earlier started a probe of these sanctuary cities to determine the impact of such policies “on public safety and federal immigration enforcement.”
Chicago and New York are big sanctuary cities and obvious targets. The mayors are appearing voluntarily. If they had refused, the committee has the power to subpoena them to appear.
What would happen if Mayor Brandon Johnson refused to attend the hearing?
Trump is threatening to shut off federal funds from sanctuary cities. A refusal to testify would give Trump an easy excuse to do that. Comer’s position is the mayors are disobeying a law. What the mayors are doing are following local ordinances. Comer said in an interview if the mayors “continue to disobey the law, then I think we should cut as much of their federal funding as we can cut.”
What does is mean for Chicago to be a sanctuary city?
Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance means “the City will not ask about your immigration status, disclose that information to authorities, or, most importantly, deny you City services.”
Chicago has been a sanctuary city since March 1985, via an executive order from Mayor Harold Washington that has since been made into an ordinance.
Can Congress pass a law to end Chicago’s sanctuary city status?
No. But it can try to influence public sentiment and policy by trying to fiscally ruin the city and state — Illinois has its own sanctuary law — by cutting off federal funds. That’s already starting to happen, with the feds withholding $1.88 billion of federal money the state was expecting.
Why is the GOP-led committee holding a hearing on sanctuary cities?
This is political theater, with the mayors there to be punching bags.
This is a hearing created to put the mayors on the defensive over their city sanctuary policies and turn public opinion against them. A movie-trailer-style video released last week set the stage, with scenes connecting the recently arrived migrants with crime in each of the four cities. There is an ominous part of the video where the purpose of the hearing is spelled out: “The mayor of CHICAGO will be held accountable on March 5.”
🚨 BREAKING: Boston, Chicago, Denver, NYC Sanctuary Mayors to Be Held Publicly Accountable on March 5 pic.twitter.com/ANujXq9tBm
— Oversight Committee (@GOPoversight) February 26, 2025
Who is on the oversight committee?
The panel consists of 26 Republicans and 21 Democrats. The top Democrat on the committee is Rep. Gerald Connolly, D-Va. He has been leading the charge against what he calls the “questionable activities” of Elon Musk’s DOGE — the Department of Government Efficiency.
The only Illinois Democrat on the committee is Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, who is preparing to run for the Senate if Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., does not seek another term. At the hearing, Krishnamoorthi needs to defend the Democrats while not damaging his own future prospects.
This panel is home to some of the most combative GOP provocateurs in Congress, all staunch Trump super-loyalists who revel in confrontations. Keep an eye on Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.; Nancy Mace, R-S.C.; and Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
The biggest Democratic name is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY.
Other outspoken Democrats who may take leading roles are Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.; Ro Khanna, D-Calif.; Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas and Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass. AOC, Tlaib and Pressley are charter members of the ultra-progressive group known as “the Squad.”
What is the format of the congressional hearing?
Expected are opening statements from Comer and Connolly and the four mayors. The mayors are likely to be seated together at a table facing the members. Each member will get at least five minutes to question the mayors. The public and the press will be in the hearing room.
While this is a time to ask the mayors questions, it is common at congressional hearings for some members to use most of their time to make a speech, or browbeat or defend a witness, giving little time for a response from a witness. Everyone is looking for that viral moment.
More reporting on Chicago’s sanctuary city status
