Judicial Watch Sues Chicago Treasurer Over Plan to Halt U.S. Treasury Purchases

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed an Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against Melissa Conyears-Ervin, treasurer of the City of Chicago, for details of her declared plan to stop buying new U.S. Treasury securities and divest the city of indirect holdings (Judicial Watch Inc. v. Chicago Treasurer’s Office (No. 2026CH00302)).

 On November 17, 2025, Conyears-Ervin issued a press release announcing that the city of Chicago “will not invest in a federal administration that is using the power of government to terrorize us.” She also stated:

Before my budget presentation on Wednesday, I informed City Council members that I would boycott the purchase of United States Treasury securities and seek their authority to grant me freedoms to modify the portfolio of the nearly $11 billion of Chicago taxpayer money the office manages.

[We will] immediately stop making new, direct purchases of U.S. Treasury marketable securities. Second, with approval from the City Council, we will explore reducing our indirect exposure by adjusting our holdings in money market funds and other instruments that derive their value from Treasurys. 

Judicial Watch sued in the Circuit Court of Cook County Department, Chancery Division, after the Treasurer’s Office failed to respond to a November 17, 2025, FOIA request for: 

• All internal Chicago City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) emails discussing whether to purchase U.S. Treasury debt in any form.
• Internal emails and communications from Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin referencing U.S. Treasury securities and immigration-related terms; and
• Reports regarding the fiscal impact of purchasing or declining to purchase U.S. debt.

“Conyears-Ervin should focus on Chicago’s crumbling finances instead of playing national policy maven and engaging in symbolic political stunts that risk taxpayer money and could undermine the city’s fiscal stability,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

In December 2025 Judicial Watch reported that Illinois released more than 1,700 criminal aliens from jails and prisons across the state after declining to honor federal immigration detainers.

In November 2025, Judicial Watch sued Evanston, IL, Mayor Daniel Biss for records related to obstruction of federal immigration enforcement.

 In January 2025 Judicial Watch sued Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for records regarding his vow to resist the Trump administration’s deportation and other immigration law enforcement activities. The mayor previously had held a press conference at which he stated that Chicago would remain a so-called “sanctuary city.”

 Christine Svenson of Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman, LLC is assisting Judicial Watch in this case.

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