Raoul suggests underfunding of his office could make winning legal
battles against Trump harder
[June 11, 2026]
By Nikoel Hytrek and UIS Public Affairs Reporting (PAR)
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul says his office was underfunded by
$10 million in the latest budget, and that could make it more difficult
to fight legal battles against the Trump administration while still
fulfilling its enforcement duties in the state.
Raoul spoke at a Tuesday event at the City Club of Chicago about the
challenges of working with a federal government that has been hostile at
times to Illinois. He also touted some of the state’s legal victories
against the Trump administration and his efforts to work with the
federal government on other issues.
But despite achievements that many legislative Democrats and the
governor often celebrate, state lawmakers appear not to have rewarded
Raoul’s team with increased funding.
“We can’t do this type of work without adequate investment, and, you
know, unfortunately, at approximately 3 a.m. in the morning a week ago
Monday, we were shorted about $10 million from what our overall
appropriation was for FY26 and I can’t imagine why,” he said.
The attorney general’s office is funded by multiple sources in the
budget. This year the total comes out to $184.5 million between all
funds. Last year, the total funding amount was $194.5 million.
The state budget passed on June 1 closely matches how much the state is
expected to spend by the end of the current fiscal year on June 30,
meaning the whole budget is essentially flat.
“I’ve been aggressive about going to the legislature in the seven and a
half years that I’ve been in office to appeal for investment in this
office,” he said. “Over the course of my seven and a half years, for
every dollar of General Revenue Funds spent on the attorney general’s
office, we return $21. Anybody who has that in their portfolio is rich.”
Last year, the General Assembly awarded the attorney general’s office
$15 million more in operational expenses to compensate for the heavier
workload.
In addition to representing Illinois in court, the attorney general’s
office enforces multiple state laws dealing with issues like consumer
protection, victim assistance, civil rights, and more.
Increased workload
Since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025
and unleashed federal immigration agents in states, Illinois has
navigated a more-difficult relationship between the state and federal
governments.
Raoul said that hostility sometimes gets in the way of work to pursue
drug and gun trafficking, child sexual abuse material, and organized
retail crime. Cracking down on those crimes is normally a collaboration
between the state and the federal government, he said.
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Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul receives a round of applause
during the governor’s 2026 budget address in February for his
efforts suing the Trump administration. (Capitol News Illinois photo
by Jerry Nowicki)
The hostility has led to more work for Raoul’s office. Between the start
of Trump’s term and April 2026, the AG’s office filed 63 lawsuits
against the Trump administration. Most of the cases dealt with federal
funds being withheld, protecting money for critical Illinois programs.
“Not a single lawsuit have we filed because of a policy difference with
the president of the United States or with the federal government,”
Raoul said. “Every lawsuit we filed, we filed because what he (Trump)
was trying to do, he was doing illegally and unconstitutionally.”
Raoul said the hostile dynamic was clearest in September 2025 with
Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration’s Chicago-focused mass
deportation campaign, and attempts to deploy the National Guard in city
streets.
He said Illinois won the U.S. Supreme Court case to block Trump from
deploying the National Guard to Chicago because the federal government
overstepped during Midway Blitz with the often-violent tactics federal
agents used to arrest people suspected of being in the country
illegally.
“Its reach was far beyond just a question of immigration enforcement or
crime,” Raoul said. “It’s whether we’re going to embrace a sort of an
authoritarian approach of giving one man the ability to turn the
country’s military against whoever he wishes based on whatever he
perceives.”
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Illinois in the National Guard case
in December.
Ultimately, Raoul said, lawsuits against the federal government have
protected $8.6 billion in federal funding for Illinois. That includes
money for childcare, disaster recovery and preparation, public health,
scientific and medical research, and more.
Despite the difficult relationship, Raoul said Illinois has been able to
work with federal law enforcement in some cases to successfully combat
retail theft and online crimes against children.
“We have continued through all of this sort of conflict to collaborate
on fighting crime, and it’s something that should be applauded for these
respective leaders,” he said.
Capitol
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