# Brandon Johnson Democratic Mayor of Chicago since May 2023, a former Cook County commissioner and Chicago Teachers Union organizer who won as the labor-left, progressive choice. His tenure has been dominated by the city's migrant-arrival crisis — the busing of asylum seekers from Texas under [[Greg Abbott]]'s program — and by persistently low approval ratings amid budget and public-safety strains. Johnson became a national figure on March 5, 2025, when he testified alongside the mayors of Boston, Denver, and New York at the [[House Oversight Committee]]'s combative "Sanctuary City Mayors" hearing chaired by [[James Comer]], defending Chicago's sanctuary policies against Republican accusations that they shield criminals. He is a recurring target of [[Donald Trump]] and conservative media in crime-and-cities messaging. ## Related - [[Donald Trump]] — recurring antagonist on crime, immigration, and federal funding - [[James Comer]] — chaired the March 2025 sanctuary-city mayors hearing