Good morning, Chicago.
In the escalating court battle between the Justice Department and major law firms over President Donald Trump’s punitive executive orders, Chicago-based Jenner & Block is leading a counteroffensive on the front lines in a Washington federal court.
Jenner & Block, which was targeted by a March 25 executive order to restrict the 111-year-old law firm’s access to federal agencies, filed a motion this week seeking a permanent injunction to prevent Trump’s order from being enforced. It joins Perkins Coie and WilmerHale in taking the fight to court, backed by support from hundreds of smaller law firms across the country, who say the rule of law is on the line.
“No lawyer can effectively represent his client when full-throated advocacy that is not aligned with the government’s agenda risks governmental reprisal,” Jenner & Block states in the motion for summary judgment.
Read the full story from the Tribune’s Robert Channick.
Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: a new online tool showing measles vaccination rates by school, professors urging Northwestern University to fight the federal funding freeze and artists ripping the mayor’s arts commissioner.
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President Donald Trump reverses tariffs that caused market meltdown, but companies remain bewildered
President Donald Trump delivered another jarring reversal in American trade policy yesterday, suspending for 90 days import taxes he’d imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China. The moves triggered a powerful stock market rally on Wall Street but left businesses, investors and America’s trading partners bewildered about what the president is attempting to achieve.
- Senate Republicans express relief after Trump pauses tariff plans
- Wall Street surges to one of its best days since WWII after Trump pauses many of his tariffs
Illinois Senate President Don Harmon disagrees $4 million he took in political donations was improper
Senate President Don Harmon disagrees with Illinois election officials who said he collected millions of dollars more in campaign contributions last year than he was allowed to under a state law designed to curtail big-money influence in Illinois politics, but he maintained he is taking the issue “seriously.”
Harmon made the remarks in response to a Tribune report that the Illinois State Board of Elections informed him last month that he improperly accepted numerous political contributions within nine months of the March 2024 primary that exceeded campaign finance limits by nearly $4.1 million.
Chicago aldermen move to ban Jan. 6 rioters from city work
Convicted Jan. 6 rioters have won sweeping pardons from President Donald Trump. They might nonetheless soon lose their ability to hold Chicago government jobs.
Democratic-led Illinois Supreme Court rejects GOP challenge to legislative maps that kept Democrats in control
The Democrat-led Illinois Supreme Court said Republicans waited too long to contest the 2021 redrawing of legislative districts that has maintained Democratic majorities in the state House and Senate.
Republicans had argued the Democratic mapping effort was unconstitutional political gerrymandering that limited voters’ choices. But the court’s five-member Democratic majority said the GOP’s “timing in filing the instant motion shows a lack of due diligence.”
Trump administration revokes student visas from U. of C.; students at SIU and U. of I. also targeted
The state’s top universities, including the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University and the University of Chicago, confirmed that visas of international students were revoked by the Trump administration, joining a growing number of international students across the country who have had their visas canceled.
Officials say that many if not all have been revoked with no explanation and no prior notice, creating confusion on campuses and deep-rooted fear among students.
Professors urge Northwestern University to fight federal funding freeze
Hundreds of professors attended a faculty meeting yesterday to urge the university’s trustees to take a stand against what Northwestern history professor Helen Tilley described as “lawlessness” exhibited by the federal government. Over 280 faculty members wrote a letter to the university saying that not doing so would “exacerbate or re-entrench inequalities.”
Tilley said leaders at universities “are trying to decide right now whether their bottom lines are more important than democratic principles.”
Illinois unveils online tool showing measles vaccination rates by school
With measles spreading across the country, the Illinois Department of Public Health unveiled a new online tool that allows people to look up measles vaccination rates and data about the risk of outbreaks at individual schools across the state.
US Postal Service seeks to hike cost of a first-class stamp to 78 cents
The U.S. Postal Service is seeking a rate increase this summer that includes hiking the cost of a first-class stamp from 73 cents to 78 cents.
The request was made yesterday to the Postal Regulatory Commission, which must OK the proposal. If approved, the 5-cent increase for a “forever” stamp and similar increases for postcards, metered letters and international mail would take effect July 13.
Chicago baseball report: The White Sox get walked off twice — but the Cubs surge through a tough April schedule
The Chicago Cubs’ challenging April is off to a good start. A 4-2 homestand against the San Diego Padres and Texas Rangers has the Cubs sitting well as they enter the next phase of the gauntlet, a six-game trip to face the Los Angeles Dodgers and Padres.
After a rough trip that has featured consecutive walk-off losses to the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians, the White Sox return to Rate Field on Friday to begin a six-game homestand — three each against the Boston Red Sox and Sacramento Athletics.
- 3 takeaways from Cubs’ series win, including clutch two-out hits and Jon Berti stepping up
- Painful ending for the Chicago White Sox, who drop 7th straight in 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians
Former Chicago Bull Brad Sellers eyeing full-circle moment for youngest daughter Shyanne, a top WNBA prospect
Most draft prospects aren’t too picky about their potential destination. But for Maryland senior Shyanne Sellers, it’s a slightly different story.
Chicago means something different to the Sellers family. And Shyanne’s father, Brad, can’t lie — it’s hard not to dream about the prospect of hearing his daughter’s name called to the city almost four decades after the Bulls selected him.
Artists rip Mayor Brandon Johnson’s arts commissioner, department ‘dysfunction’ in letter
Dozens of Chicago artists have drafted a letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson expressing “deep concern” over alleged failures in his administration’s work for the arts community.
“The department’s budget, staff, and influence have diminished during your tenure, and the department has lost invaluable talent—as well as the confidence of Chicago’s creative sector,” the self-dubbed “Artists for Chicago” told Johnson in the letter.
‘Hacks’ review: In Season 4, even dream jobs can be a (very funny) nightmare
Push-pull. Love-hate. That tension is the backbone of “Hacks,” which has only grown more potent over time as the central duo — a veteran standup in the mold of Joan Rivers and the much younger writer who has helped reinvigorate her career — self-sabotage their way to success.
Starring Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder, rarely has a pairing been this combustibly funny, but also able to get you in the gut each time they find common ground amid the smoking wreckage of their lives, writes Tribune TV and film critic Nina Metz.
