Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget pitch blames ‘Trump Deficit,’ but Chicago’s money woes found elsewhere

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget pitch blames ‘Trump Deficit,’ but Chicago’s money woes found elsewhere – Chicago Tribune/Yahoo

"Instead, the $1.19 billion projected shortfall for 2026 has been telegraphed for years because of rising personnel and pension costs as well as pandemic-era federal grants from President Joe Biden’s administration expiring. While these pressures long predated Johnson, he has known about them since assuming office and has not meaningfully addressed the structural causes."

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s budget pitch blames ‘Trump Deficit,’ but Chicago’s money woes found elsewhere

The opening salvo in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s third budget cycle was directed clearly and unequivocally at President Donald Trump, but it also carried a pointed message to aldermen. Employing dark imagery of federal troops waiting to touch down in Chicago and immigration agents snatching mothers outside schools, the freshman chief executive’s 2026 budget address repeatedly cast his $16.6 billion spending plan as the city’s best response to Presid…