JB Pritzker studies Project 2025 and Trump, ponders his own political future

Gov. JB Pritzker is combing through thousands of pages of Project 2025, shoring up legal resources and finding ways to further expand reproductive rights and environmental protections — all while he explores his own political future.

It's not the election night Pritzker wanted or expected. And while it has opened up a political path for the Democratic governor, a second administration under former President Donald Trump has the potential to unravel many of the policies that Pritzker has championed since taking office in 2018.

An emotional Pritzker, who served as a key surrogate for Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign and was considered to be a vice presidential contender , stood before reporters on Thursday in his West Loop office, disappointed and dejected.

He paused when he spoke about his late mother , who forged his support for reproductive rights, and about a nation that once again rejected a female presidential candidate.

"I know that there are a lot of women out there this week, especially young women, asking themselves if they will ever get to see a female president," Pritzker said. "And to them I want to say, I too am tired of having to explain to my daughter, and to my son too, that eventually the time will come. But not now."

He also vowed, in no uncertain terms, to keep Illinoisans "safe and protected."

"To anyone who intends to come take away the freedom and opportunity and dignity of Illinoisans, I would remind you that a happy warrior is still a warrior," Pritzker said. "You come for my people, you come through me."

Preparations for a second Trump presidency

Pritzker has had several conversations with Democratic governors this week about protecting rights and making sure they'll "withstand" another four years of Trump. He also said he's looking into ways to work with the administration, despite Trump. And he expressed a tiny bit of optimism.

"Chaos, retribution and disarray radiated from the White House the last time Donald Trump occupied it," Pritzker said. "Perhaps this time may be different. But if it isn't, Illinois will remain a place of stability and competent governance."

The governor said he has met with senior staffers to create a list of issues to address with a second Trump term, which he hopes "can be done in the new year." California Gov. Gavin Newsom, another potential 2028 presidential candidate, on Wednesday called for lawmakers to convene a special session to safeguard policies on reproductive rights, immigration and climate change.

Behind the scenes, Pritzker and his top staffers had been preparing for their worst-case scenario: a Trump win. Now those plans are in place — and Pritzker has been pouring through Project 2025, the 887-page GOP blueprint from the Heritage Foundation, which Trump repeatedly tried to distance himself from on the campaign trail.

Project 2025 recommendations include calling for the Food and Drug Administration to reverse its approval of the widely used abortion pill mifepristone and recommending the Justice Department enforce the Comstock Act of 1873, which could be used to stop abortion drugs from being sent via mail.

It also recommends Trump reinstate a ban on transgender people in the military, which President Joe Biden reversed. And it recommends finishing the U.S.-Mexico border wall, and using active-duty personnel and the National Guard to arrest people along the border.

Pritzker and top staffers are also looking into further measures to protect women who are coming to Illinois for abortions — and making sure their information can't be used for potential prosecution in their home states.

If environmental protections are overturned, the governor's administration is exploring "anything that's touched by Chevron," according to a source with direct knowledge of Pritzker's thinking. That's a reference to a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in that the current Supreme Court revisited in June. The current court's decision over the summer made it easier for courts to block regulation that would address air pollution and combat climate change, among other environmental issues.

They're also using a playbook they learned during the COVID-19 pandemic: figure out creatively how to deal with Trump, what laws and regulations they could push back on, and what public relations levers they can pull to put pressure on his administration.

Pritzker is also in discussions with Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul's office to explore what further legal resources, or staff, they'll need to challenge Trump policies, including the potential for Trump to try to withhold federal grants for police in blue states in order to enact his mass deportation plan.

Pritzker called any such action "illegal" and said the state would take legal action.

"We're going to be pretty ruthless in trying to figure out how to protect people here," the source said.

Pritzker's political future

Despite rumblings, the Democratic governor had no conversations with Harris' team about a potential Cabinet position. And now, Trump's win forges a path for Pritzker to run for president in 2028, along with a slew of other Democratic contenders. But first he'll have to decide whether he'll seek a third term, which remains the best way for Pritzker to stay in the spotlight and fight against Trump's policies.

Pritzker and his team are taking a deep dive into what went wrong for Democrats, including what type of candidate the Democratic Party needs in 2028 — and those discussions are also affecting his own decisions regarding his political future. There is also talk about ensuring the Democratic Party of Illinois, which has been emboldened by Pritzker's millions, remains in a strong position even after Pritzker leaves office.

Pritzker announced his first run for governor in April 2017, a whopping 13 months before the Democratic gubernatorial primary. He announced his second run for governor eight months before the 2022 primary.

For now, Pritzker is mum on whether he'll seek another term.

"The work that I do now as governor is work that I love doing...In the wake of the Tuesday election, I think back to my first days in office, my first two years in office, when Donald Trump was president, and we had to defend Illinois against an awful lot of policies that the Trump administration was imposing that we needed to make sure we were addressing," Pritzker said. "And so I think that work is going to continue. And I don't have anything to announce today."

"And I have no plans for anything else," he said of a potential presidential run.

Pritzker was careful to not criticize Democrats, crediting Harris for an "extraordinary job" during her short-lived 107-day campaign.