WATCH: GOP leader calls Pritzker’s accountability commission a ‘political stunt’

By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has created a new government commission to document the conduct of federal law enforcement agents, but a Statehouse Republican leader calls the governor’s new panel “a political stunt.”

Pritzker held a press conference Thursday morning in Chicago, where he signed an executive order to establish the Illinois Accountability Commission.

The governor said the commission, chaired by former U.S. District Court Judge Rubén Castillo, would have three core missions: establishing a public record to document the conduct of federal officers during Operation Midway Blitz, examining the impact of that conduct on individuals and communities, and considering policy recommendations.

The executive order directs the commission to release a report outlining its findings to the governor no later than Jan. 31, 2026.

Pritzker said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Operation Midway Blitz has been a military-style assault on Chicago and its suburbs.

“[President] Donald Trump, [White House deputy chief of staff] Stephen Miller, [Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi Noem, [border czar] Tom Homan and [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Commander] Greg Bovino have failed their oaths of office and allowed agents under their command to act unconscionably under the color of law,” Pritzker said.

Pritzker said federal immigration enforcement in Illinois is not about crime and safety.

“Trump’s masked agents have detained innocent American citizens and legal residents. They have used unmarked cars, a Blackhawk helicopter, automatic weapons,” Pritzker said.

Illinois House Minority Leader Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, said it’s not new for the governor or the majority party to attack law enforcement.

“Today’s executive order is a setup talking about federal immunity, but really, they’re going to remove qualified immunity for our own law enforcement here. This isn’t a new thing for the governor or the majority party to attack law enforcement,” McCombie told The Center Square.

McCombie disputed Pritzker’s suggestion that federal agents should be collaborating with local law enforcement.

“Well, he’s expanded the TRUST Act to the extent that law enforcement couldn’t collaborate with federal agents, so that’s on him, too,” McCombie said.

McCombie called the new commission “another taxpayer-funded political stunt.”

Pritzker’s order calls for the Illinois Department of Human Rights to provide administrative and staff support to the new accountability group.

The commission’s actual cost to taxpayers is unknown.

Greg Bishop contributed to this story.