Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says he will not veto a 2026 budget that he has called “morally bankrupt,” instead allowing it to go into effect and staving off political gridlock and the risk of an unprecedented government shutdown.
“I will not add the risk and speculation of a government shutdown to the profound worries Chicagoans face,” Johnson said after first announcing he would not veto a rival spending plan crafted by a coalition of mostly moderate and conservative City Council members that the Council officially passed Saturday.
“I’ve made something absolutely crystal clear: We will hold firm to our values while negotiating the details,” Johnson added, after signing two budget-related executive orders he called the “first clarifications” on what will become the 2026 budget.
Those executive orders prohibit the city from selling medical debt to third parties and create more oversight on police overtime spending.
“I don’t want to give a signal to the people of Chicago that I support what I believe is one of the most detrimental and immoral aspects of this budget,” Johnson said, explaining why he will allow the budget to take effect without proactively signing it. He was referring to a part of the budget that will rake in about $90 million in increased debt collection.
“It’s important to immediately clarify these positions today with executive orders as we keep the north star of equity at the forefront of our values,” Johnson said. “If those City Council members are not looking out for working people, then I’m happy to do it.”
By not vetoing the budget, Johnson solidifies the will of 30 Council members, mostly moderate and conservative, who took control of this year’s budget process and passed the alternative budget largely to avoid a corporate head tax and increase the city’s payment toward underfunded pensions.
The budget nixes Johnson’s $82 million head tax on large firms in favor of hiking the tax on alcohol consumed off premises; increasing the plastic bag fee; selling ad space on city light poles and bridge houses; legalizing video gambling at bars and restaurants; and selling Chicagoans unpaid debt to private collectors.
Those revenue streams will also help the city make a full advance pension payment, a policy lauded by credit rating agencies. Johnson shrunk the advance pension payment in his initial budget proposal amid a $1.2 billion budget gap.
But the city’s budget director and chief financial officer have said the Council’s rival proposal is based on faulty revenue projections and will leave a $163 million budget gap. That could require midyear layoffs, furloughs, a hiring freeze or cuts in 2026.
“What I am most concerned about is not just our ability to ultimately make the numbers work in the immediate run,” he said. “[I]t’s if those speculations are off, what that means for working people midway through the year. Obviously we’re going to work with every single alder to ensure that we don’t have to have midyear cuts and layoffs.”
Tensions between the mayor and coalition leaders continued to be on full display immediately following his announcement. Ald. Bill Conway (34th) slammed Johnson for not proactively signing the Council’s spending plan.
“The mayor essentially abdicated all responsibility by refusing to take any action, just letting the budget take effect on his own,” Conway said. “I mean, he really had two choices today. He could sign the budget or veto the budget, and he shockingly found a way to show even less leadership.”
As for Johnson’s assertion that the budget will need clarifications in the new year, Conway said “the budget is a living document.”
“It was an imperfect but responsible budget, but it will require potentially some amendments, and we will be prepared to work with the mayor if he so chooses, or frankly, go forward without him if he doesn’t want to work with us,” Conway said.
A Johnson veto would have pushed the city to the brink of a government shutdown, as City Hall faced a state-imposed, end-of-year deadline to pass a budget.
But the coalition of Council members who seized control of the budget process had also scheduled a Dec. 29 meeting specifically to override Johnson’s veto. They maintained confidence they could muster a 34-vote veto-proof majority to do so.
The opposition coalition, led in part by Johnson’s own Finance Committee Chair, 3rd Ward Ald. Pat Dowell, seized control of the budget process this year in a way not seen since the days of the 1980s Council Wars that saw 29 mostly white Council members thwart Mayor Harold Washington’s every move.
Back then, Washington vetoed Council-led appropriation ordinances four times — in 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986, according to records from the city clerk.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to correct that Mayor Johnson’s team said he would not veto the City Council’s alternate 2026 budget.
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