Illinois

Democrats control the governor’s office and hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Governor JB Pritzker is running for a third term. The state has gone Democratic by double digits in every presidential election since 1992.

Illinois is using that power. AG Kwame Raoul has filed more lawsuits against the Trump administration than any other state attorney general. The Legislature let a $315 million voucher program die and passed the first statewide cash bail elimination in the country.

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Kwame Raoul is suing Trump once a week

AG Raoul has filed 63 lawsuits against the Trump administration as of early 2026. Courts have ruled in his favor 93% of the time. Only two cases have been dismissed outright.

$6.6 billion in federal funding protected for Illinois through AG litigation

The wins are specific. Raoul blocked the federal government from suspending SNAP benefits for 1.9 million Illinois recipients. He led the lawsuit against Trump’s military deployment to Chicago, and the Supreme Court sided with Illinois in December 2025. He joined four states suing over a $10 billion child care funding freeze and separately sued over $600 million in cut public health grants.

Eighteen preliminary injunctions or temporary restraining orders remain in place. Each one represents a federal action that a court found likely illegal.

Raoul’s office has framed every lawsuit around a single argument. The federal government cannot condition funding on political loyalty or bypass Congress to cut programs.

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Chicago absorbed 50,000 migrants and $638 million in costs

Texas Governor Greg Abbott began busing migrants to Chicago in August 2022. At the peak, 12 to 15 buses arrived daily. Migrants slept on the floors of police stations and O’Hare Airport.

The city ended its 60-day shelter guarantee. No buses have arrived from Texas since December 2024. But the federal government opened a new front: DHS announced “Operation Midway Blitz” to round up people without legal status in the Chicago area.

Pritzker refused to authorize National Guard troops for the operation. He called it unconstitutional and said Trump was trying to normalize military presence in civilian areas before the 2026 midterms. The Supreme Court agreed with Illinois, ruling in December 2025 that the federal government had no authority to deploy troops to execute laws in the state.

Cost source	Amount
Chicago vendor contracts	$638.7 million
Additional 2025 city budget	$150 million
Statewide projected total	$2.5 billion

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Trump’s DOJ is trying to kill Illinois’s assault weapons ban

The Protect Illinois Communities Act bans the sale, transfer, and future acquisition of assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, and certain accessories. It passed in 2023. It remains in effect.

A federal district court ruled the ban unconstitutional in November 2024 and entered a permanent injunction. The state appealed to the Seventh Circuit, which stayed the district court ruling. Oral arguments were scheduled for September 2025.

The Supreme Court declined in June 2025 to hear challenges to assault weapons bans from other states, leaving those bans intact. That is not a ruling on the merits. It means the Seventh Circuit decision will likely determine whether Illinois’s ban survives.

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Illinois killed its voucher program after $315 million walked out the door

The “Invest in Kids” tax credit scholarship program ran from 2018 to 2024. It diverted $315 million from the state’s General Revenue Fund to private school tuition. The Legislature refused to renew it. The program sunset.

$315 million diverted from public revenue to private school tuition over six years

The FY2026 budget added $307 million to K-12 through the evidence-based funding formula. That is the first time since 2020 the increase fell below $350 million. The state board of education had requested $497 million.

Over 1.3 million students still attend schools in underfunded districts. Those districts are disproportionately low-income and serve Black and Latino students.

Voucher supporters have not quit. Advisory referenda on vouchers appeared on the March 2026 primary ballot in several counties. The Illinois Education Association called the referendum language misleading and urged voters to reject them.

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Cash bail is gone and crime went down

Illinois became the first state to fully eliminate cash bail when the Pretrial Fairness Act took effect on September 18, 2023. Judges now decide detention based on risk of reoffending or flight, not whether someone can write a check.

The predictions were loud. Opponents said ending cash bail would unleash a crime wave. Illinois State Police data says the opposite happened. A Loyola University study found that only 3% of defendants released pretrial committed a new violent crime.

The Trump administration has threatened to cut funding or force changes to the law. Top Democrats in Springfield said in January 2026 they would consider narrow adjustments if a judicial report recommends them, but no wholesale rollback.

One gap remains. Electronic monitoring data is hard to analyze because probation and pretrial services fall under the judicial branch, which is exempt from state transparency laws. Better data would strengthen the law’s defenders.

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Protect yourself right now

1. Check your voter registration. Verify at elections.il.gov. The November 2026 general election includes the governor’s race and an open U.S. Senate seat. Verify your status at the Illinois State Board of Elections.

2. Know what your AG is fighting for. Raoul’s 63 lawsuits protect specific programs. If you receive SNAP benefits, child care subsidies, or public health services, check whether your funding has been restored. The AG’s office publishes case updates.

3. Watch your school board. Voucher referenda are showing up on county ballots. Your local school board and county party committees decide whether these appear. Show up at meetings before the language is finalized.

4. Understand your pretrial rights. If you or someone you know is arrested in Illinois, cash bail no longer applies. Detention is based on risk assessment, not ability to pay. The public defender’s office can explain the process.

5. Call the governor’s office. 217-782-0244. Ask about the $190 million gap between what schools need and what the budget provides. Ask whether the state will fight the DOJ’s intervention in the assault weapons case.