Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is blocking those who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol from working in state jobs, ignoring President Donald Trump's attempt to offer them a clean slate last week in a sweeping set of pardons and commutations.
Late Thursday, Pritzker directed the state’s Department of Central Management Services, the state’s primary hiring authority, to restrict hiring of those who took part in the attack on the Capitol by declaring they had taken part in “infamous and disgraceful conduct that is antithetical to the mission of the State.”
“These rioters attacked law enforcement officers protecting people in the Capitol, disrupted the peaceful transfer of power, and undermined bedrock principles of American democracy,” Pritzker said in a written directive obtained by NBC News. “Our State workforce must reflect the values of Illinois and demonstrate honesty, integrity, and loyalty to serving the taxpayers. No one who attempts to overthrow a government should serve in government.”
Pritzker’s new directive marks the first and most direct pushback to Trump’s power spree that has tested the bounds of presidential authority through a fray of executive orders, including some that have drawn judicial rebuke. The Democratic governor of the Midwestern blue state has for years acted as an antagonist to Trump.
Pritzker's directive is likely to draw legal challenges, but sources familiar with it said that working through the personnel code was thought to serve as the best legal footing should it face court pushback.
In his first day in office last week, Trump issued a sweeping order that pardoned about 1,500 people and commuted the sentences of 14 others who had stormed the Capitol building in the wake of Trump making false claims that the 2020 presidential election Joe Biden won was stolen.
Individuals associated with the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, who were convicted of seditious conspiracy, were among those who were commuted. Trump deemed “a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” a category that included people who assaulted law enforcement officers.
The Chicago Sun-Times previously reported that Trump’s actions in absolving those taking part in Jan. 6, may have affected more than 50 Illinois residents, including those still facing prosecution, since Trump also ordered the attorney general to seek dismissal of all pending indictments. Illinois employs roughly 53,000 individuals.
Pritzker has also pushed back on other Trump actions, including to a recent, confusing memo that called for a freeze in federal aid. A judge in Washington, D.C. temporarily blocked that directive, and the following day, the White House rescinded the memo.
"The US Constitution does not grant the President this unilateral authority," Pritzker wrote on X. "In Illinois, we will stand against unlawful actions that would harm millions of working families, children, and seniors."
