U.S. Department of Justice opening civil rights investigation into Chicago mayor

Driving the news: The letter from DOJ Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon references remarks Johnson made Sunday at a church on Chicago's South Side.

What they're saying: "In your remarks made yesterday at the Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn, you 'highlight[ed] the number of Black officials in [your] administration,'" the letter to Johnson says.

• "You then went on to list each of these individuals, emphasizing their race," the letter continues, with a list of the various positions in the Johnson administration held by Black people.
• "If these kind of hiring decisions are being made for top-level positions in your administration, then it begs the question whether such decisions are also being made for lower-level positions," the letter says.

Zoom in: Some of the positions Johnson highlighted included two deputy mayors, positions held by Black women, and the city's chief operations officer, who is a Black man.

• Johnson made the comments during a nearly 50-minute interview Sunday with Bishop Byron Brazier as part of his media blitz touting his accomplishments at the midpoint of his tenure.
• "It is the most diverse administration in the history of Chicago," Johnson said.

State of play: The mayor's office said in a statement Monday afternoon that Johnson "is proud to have the most diverse administration in the history of our city....[reflecting] the diversity and values of Chicago."

• The office cited 2025 data indicating that the mayor's staff is 34% Black, 30% white, 24% Latino and 7% Asian, roughly matching the city's demographics.

The intrigue: When Axios asked how the DOJ knew about the mayor's comments, the department pointed to a footnote in the letter that references an article titled: "'Could he be more racist?': Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson slammed for 'only hiring black people' comment in viral speech" with a broken link to MSN.com.

Editor's note: This is a developing story.