Rahm teams up with fired Navy chief

Politico

12-05-2025

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Happy Monday, Illinois. And congrats to all the Peter Lisagor journalism award winners and nominees. Honored that Illinois Playbook won in the Best Newsletter category!
TOP TALKER
FIRST IN POLITICO: Rahm Emanuel has tapped retired Adm. Lisa Franchetti, who led U.S. naval operations before she was fired by the Trump administration, to team up on his scholarship program for ROTC students in Chicago.
The two will appear today at Rickover Naval Academy in Chicago to announce 12 recipients of the inaugural Admiral Lisa Franchetti ROTC Scholarship.
Exclusive interview: 'I'm focused on and am passionate about developing the next generation of leaders,' Franchetti told your Playbook host of the Children First scholarship. The fund was started by Emanuel and is coordinated with Chicago Public Schools.
School daze: Emanuel, who like Franchetti, studied at Northwestern, said 'it's frustrating' that her military career ended so abruptly.
'It's wrong on a thousand levels,' he said in an interview. 'The Navy was better. Our Armed Forces were better, and our values and our interests were better protected when Lisa Franchetti was on point.'
But he adds, 'We're lucky to have her thinking and protecting and caring about service men and women' through the scholarship program.
Our home page story is here.
THE BUZZ
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Illinois House Democratic leader Kam Buckner has been named to the board of a national Democratic committee that funds state legislative races.
Buckner, a Chicago Democrat who serves speaker pro tempore, is now a member of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, which works to elect Democrats to state legislatures.
The board is seen as integral to helping win elections, and Buckner and the six other new members will be tapped to address efforts to 'fight extremism' that pops up in elections.
Buckner drew praise from the Democratic organization for his policy expertise and his ability to work well with colleagues. 'As a former college football player, he knows how to put aside personal differences and focus on what's best for his team,' according to a statement from the group.
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WHERE'S JB
In D.C. for the SelectUSA Investment Summit to meet with CEOs and international trade partners
WHERE's BRANDON
No official public events
Where's Toni
No official public events
Have a tip, suggestion, birthday, new job or a complaint? Email [e-mail]
BUSINESS OF POLITICS
— BOST IS IN: Congressman Mike Bost has announced he's running for re-election in the 12th District, and he's already been endorsed by President Donald Trump.
Bost launched his re-election campaign at last week's Monroe County GOP Century Club Dinner and announced on X that Trump has endorsed him.
Bost, who has twice served as Illinois co-chair of Trump's campaign, boasts in his campaign announcement that he's 'earned Trump's endorsement in five consecutive election cycles.'
The message: Republicans who have been thinking of challenging him should think twice before doing so. 'This Marine isn't finished fighting for the incredible people of Southern Illinois,' Bost said in a statement.
— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The Illinois Blue PAC, the first federal political action committee organized for Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton's Senate race has been launched. Chair of the PAC is David Lobl, a Chicago native who now lives in New York and has advised the governor there as well as the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Also heading the PAC: Mark Kalish, a former member of the Illinois House who leads the Health Care Council of Illinois PAC, public affairs consultant and former comms adviser to the governor Alex Hanns and his public affairs firm StrategyA, and CreoStrat media strategist Stephan Miller.
The PAC operates separately from Stratton's political campaign, which allows the political action committee to raise an unlimited amount of funds to promote her as a candidate.
— SCOOP: Congresswoman Robin Kelly is being endorsed by 18 members of the Congressional Black Caucus in her bid to succeed retiring Sen. Dick Durbin. Congressman Jonathan Jackson (IL-01) is among those endorsing. The full list is here.
— LABOR LOVE: Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi secured the first labor endorsement of the U.S. Senate primary in Illinois, winning the support of Local 881 United Food and Commercial Workers, which represents 34,000 workers from the retail, cannabis, nursing home, barber and cosmetology industries.
— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: State Rep. Tracy Katz Muhl is running for the open seat on the Democratic State Central Committee in the 10th District. Current committee member Melinda Bush has announced she's not running. Details and endorsements here
— FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: Judge Michael Zink is announcing his campaign today to fill the vacancy in the Cook County 20th subcircuit after Judge David Haracz's retirement. Zink was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court in December to the position and now must run for the seat.
ILLINOIS' POPE
— Dolton hopes ties to Pope Leo XIV will burnish town's image and spur growth: 'The village has suffered after years of alleged corruption among village mayors past and more recently Tiffany Henyard, who was tossed out of office with the most recent election. … The selection of Robert Francis Prevost as pope could help bring businesses to Dolton, which is now the focus of attention,' by the Daily Southtown's Mike Nolan and Samantha Moilanen.
— 'He's one of us': South Holland church celebrates bragging rights as Pope Leo XIV's de facto home parish, by the Tribune's Carolyn Stein
— Peek inside the vacant South Side church where Pope Leo XIV got his start: 'St. Mary of the Assumption, the church that served as the pope's base, has been closed for years now,' via the Block Club.
— How the new Pope Leo XIV's childhood church in Chicago fell into disrepair — and what may lie ahead, by the Tribune's Caroline Kubzansky
— Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez has sent a letter inviting Pope Leo to visit his boyhood home. Read it here
— Would you stay at Pope Leo's childhood home? By Curbed's Matthew Sedacca
— 'Da Pope' bobbleheads unveiled, via the Sun-Times
THE STATEWIDES
— Domestic violence law named in memory of Karina Gonzalez took effect on Mother's Day: 'An immigrant woman from Mexico, who worked dead-end jobs and survived an abusive husband, will now go on to save the lives of other domestic violence victims,' said Manny Alvarez, Karina Gonzalez's son,' by the Sun-Times' Kaitlin Washburn.
— 'Bare-knuckled fight' over drug discount bill in Springfield, by Crain's Jon Asplund
— Lawmakers have just days to save Metra, Pace and CTA from massive cuts: 'The governance piece has been discussed ad infinitum, but there's been no robust vetting of how to solve the cash gap. Tax, toll and fee increases have been floated, which could mean an unwanted surprise for Illinoisans come late May,' by the Daily Herald's Marni Pyke.
CHICAGO
— AN ANNIVERSARY | Mayor Brandon Johnson's second year found him fighting unexpected battles: 'Though the harsh spotlight on Johnson's office on the fifth floor is nothing new, some of the thorniest issues the former Chicago Teachers Union organizer has battled his second year have come from unexpected fronts: education, and the city's political left. Those difficulties at times dominated his administration's attention and pushed him to expend political capital in ways he may not have predicted when he came into office as the city's most progressive mayor in 40 years,' by the Tribune's Alice Yin, Jake Sheridan and A.D. Quig.
— Transit advocates push mayor, board for nationwide search for next CTA boss: 'Kevin Irvine, a former CTA board member, asked current board members not to approve Mayor Brandon Johnson's reported pick — city COO John Roberson — as CTA president during a special meeting,' by the Block Club's Mack Liederman and Manny Ramos.
— The Catholic church's social service arm in Chicago uses Cozen O'Connor lobbying firm, which also represents abortion provider, by the Sun-Times' Robert Herguth
Reader Digest
We asked what political debate topic would be better decided by a game of rock scissors paper.
Daniel G. Goldwin: 'Whether the Bears new stadium is in Arlington Heights or Chicago.'
Lucas Hawley: 'The SALT tax bill issue currently infighting in Congress.'
Anne Sommerkamp: 'Ending Citizens United.'
Timothy Thomas: 'The old political saw of a billionaires tax ... as if a billionaire gets a weekly paycheck and a W2 at the end of the year.'
NEXT QUESTION: Which fictional politician would actually make a decent real-life leader?
KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION
— CITY CRAWL: Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Sen. Dick Durbin, Cook County Commissioner Jessica Vásquez and House Democrats Vice Chair Congressman Ted Lieu of California took part in a business crawl Friday along Chicago's Milwaukee Avenue's business corridor. The goal was to celebrate Small Business Week. Along the way, business owners talked about the impact that the Trump administration's funding cuts and service reductions will have on the local economy, according to Ramirez's team.
— Congressman Bill Foster (IL-11) and Congress' only PhD physicist led 112 members of Congress in expressing concern that the Trump administration has directed the National Science Foundation to freeze all grant funding. Their letter is here.
— Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (IL-09) leads a list of House members calling on White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought to reverse plans to eliminate the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Their memo is here.
THE NATIONAL TAKE
— States bear the brunt of House GOP Medicaid plan, by POLITICO's Ben Leonard and Robert King
— Democrats are triggered by Biden's return to the spotlight, by POLITICO's Brakkton Booker
— Trump is already obsessed with the midterms, by POLITICO's Rachael Bade
— David Hogg tried pitching a compromise to the DNC. He was rebuffed, by POLITICO's Holly Otterbein
TRANSITIONS
— Dr. John J. Whyte has been named CEO of the American Medical Association. Whyte, who is chief medical officer of WebMD, starts July 1, via the AMA.
— Eric Zylstra is now senior counsel in Michael Best's Intellectual Property Practice Group. He was senior associate at Squire Patton Boggs.
— Andrew Velasquez III is now senior VP of Sierra Public Safety Group in Chicago. He was the former head of the City of Chicago Emergency Management and earlier was regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency.
EVENTS
— Thursday: Chicago Ald. Nicole Lee and Cook County Commissioner Josina Morita at an Asian American Heritage Month Fundraiser. Details here
— Thursday: The founding of the North Lawndale Employment Network will be celebrated along with its Sweet Beginnings jobs program. Details here
TRIVIA
FRIDAY's ANSWER: Congrats to Robert Christie for correctly answering that Gov. Frank Orren Lowden's father in-law was George Pullman, the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car and the founder of a company town in Chicago.
TODAY's QUESTION: What Illinois-based company founded by a German immigrant grew nationwide to help Americans in transportation and recreation before it crashed in the 1990s? Email [e-mail]
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
State Rep. Kam Buckner, former head of the United Nations World Food Programme Ertharin Cousin, Clark Hill senior counsel and former Ald. Latasha Thomas, Illinois Senate Dems Deputy Comms Director Adrianna Pitrelli and Yale MBA candidate Emily Harwell
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