President Donald Trump attempted to provide those who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol a fresh start last week with a broad set of pardons and commutations, but Illinois Governor JB Pritzker is preventing them from holding state positions.
Pritzker ordered the state’s Department of Central Management Services, which is in charge of hiring people, to limit the hiring of those involved in the Capitol attack by stating that their involvement was shameful and infamous and that it went against the state’s mission late Thursday.
In a formal order that NBC News was able to obtain, Pritzker said that these rioters attacked law enforcement officials defending citizens in the Capitol, interfered with the orderly handover of power, and weakened fundamental tenets of American democracy. Our state employees must uphold Illinois’ ideals and exhibit honesty, integrity, and a commitment to serving the public interest. No one should hold public office who seeks to topple a government.
Pritzker’s new order is the first and most direct response to Trump’s power grab, which has stretched the president’s authority through a series of unilateral orders, some of which have been criticized by the courts. For years, the Democratic governor of the blue state in the Midwest has been hostile to Trump.
Although Pritzker’s directive is expected to encounter legal challenges, people familiar with it indicated that the best legal defense in the event of judicial opposition was to work via the personnel code.
Trump issued a broad order on his first day in office last week, pardoning over 1,500 individuals and commuting the sentences of 14 others who had rushed the Capitol building after he falsely claimed that Joe Biden had won the 2020 presidential election.
Those commuted included members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who had been found guilty of seditious conspiracy. All other offenders convicted of crimes connected to the events that took place at or near the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, including assaults on law enforcement, were granted a full, complete, and unconditional pardon by Trump.
The Chicago Sun-Times previously stated that since Trump also directed the attorney general to seek the discharge of any ongoing indictments, his actions in clearing individuals involved in the Jan. 6 incident may have had an impact on over 50 Illinois residents, including those who are currently being prosecuted. About 53,000 people work in Illinois.
Other Trump moves, such as a recent, unclear memo calling for a freeze in federal aid, have also been resisted by Pritzker. The following day, the White House revoked the letter when a judge in Washington, D.C., temporarily stopped that decision.
Pritzker stated on X, “The President does not have this unilateral authority under the US Constitution.” “In Illinois, we will stand against unlawful actions that would harm millions of working families, children, and seniors.”