Illinois Democrats are positioning themselves as a firewall against President Donald Trump, who hasn’t been shy about his disdain for the state.

Gov. JB Pritzker, who has publicly traded barbs with the president, went viral after last week’s State of the State speech when he drew parallels between Trump’s recent executive actions and the rise of the Nazi party in Germany.

Illinois Democratic state lawmakers haven’t been pulling any punches either.

In early February, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, D-Hillside, called Trump a “fascist” during a floor debate in which state representatives introduced nonbinding resolutions condemning the Trump White House for targeting DEI initiatives and pardoning those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots. Members on the other side of the aisle had already walked out of the House chambers in protest.

“They couldn’t stay and do their jobs and speak out against fascism,” Welch said. “But we’re here. The Democratic caucus is here. We will resist, we will fight.”

Despite bold promises like these from Illinois Democrats, constitutional law experts said the state can only push back so far against the president. Illinois lawmakers have the power to allocate state dollars to state programs they want to protect but find themselves limited otherwise.

Federal law takes precedence

Steven Schwinn, a constitutional law professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, said it boils down to the powers outlined in the U.S. Constitution’s Supremacy Clause, which says that, in general, federal law takes precedence over conflicting state laws.

“When the federal government and the state government clash in certain instances, it’s the federal government that will be supreme over the states,” Schwinn said.

Schwinn said that states have some room to adopt their own practices, thanks to the 10th Amendment, which says that if a power is not granted to the federal government by the U.S. Constitution, it’s reserved to the states.

An example of this would be the Illinois State Board of Education setting curriculum guidelines for Illinois public schools. The state has the right to create those guidelines because that right was not given to the federal government in the Constitution.

Sanctuary city laws are another example of this. In 2017, during the first Trump administration, Illinois lawmakers passed the TRUST Act, which limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration agents. Democratic lawmakers are looking to expand on it during the spring legislative session, while Cook County and the city of Chicago have mirroring policies.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit earlier this month against the state, Cook County and the city of Chicago, arguing these policies are “making it more difficult for, and deliberately impeding, federal immigration officers’ ability to carry out their responsibilities.”

State Attorney General Kwame Raoul, in a statement to WBEZ, invoked the 10th Amendment, saying Illinois has the right to opt out of “federal attempts to commandeer state law enforcement resources to perform the federal government’s job.”

Schwinn said he’s skeptical the DOJ’s argument will hold up in the courts, thanks to the 10th Amendment.

“[The federal government] can’t tell the state of Illinois, for example, that it must enact such and such law, or that an Illinois officer must help the government enforce law,” Schwinn said. “[That] violates federalism principles that are well embedded in our constitutional jurisprudence and that it just can’t do that.”

Using budgets to push back

Illinois Democrats have another weapon in fighting against Trump’s agenda: the state budget. Each state has the right to allocate funds generated by state taxes, but states also administer federal funds.

Pritzker has vowed to use that power — and the upcoming budget — to combat what his office has dubbed the “Trump tax on working families.”

“Each year, there’s some difficulty that requires us to work hard to overcome it,” Pritzker said during his address. “This year, the surfacing difficulty is Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s plan to steal Illinois’ tax dollars and deny our citizens the protection and services they need.”

Pritzker’s $55.2 billion proposed spending plan for the upcoming fiscal year — a $2 billion increase from this year — allocates money to medical debt relief and scholarships for students attending Illinois colleges and universities.

The governor is also calling on the legislature to, among other things, allocate funds to increase access to abortion services on college campuses and lower the cost of prescription drugs. Pritzker also sent a letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget earlier this week, urging the office to release nearly $2 billion in federal funds, which the governor said have been cut off by the Trump administration.

Pritzker’s moves follow the Trump administration’s attempts to freeze all federal funding to state agencies and programs. While their attempts have thus far been blocked in the federal courts, the president remains determined to slash funding for medical research through the National Institutes of Health and shutter agencies like the Department of Education.

Nadav Shoked, a Northwestern law professor specializing in local government law, said it’s normal to see the federal government “pressure” states by offering funding for certain programs on the condition that they adopt policies related to that program. The problem arises, he said, when the federal government withholds money as a means to force the state into compliance.

“You could have a federalism issue — that is to say, federal intervention with state powers in an unconstitutional manner,” Shoked said. “That’s a high bar to clear.”

The other problem, Shoked said, is related to checks and balances. Congress holds the authority to decide how federal money is spent and what conditions to impose on certain programs. Shoked said this time around, the Trump administration seems to be issuing executive actions that are pushing the envelope.

“Not all of it will stick,” Shoked said. “But you can’t win the lottery without buying a ticket. So, from their perspective, it’s costless to try.”

Ultimately, Schwinn and Shoked agreed Illinois lawmakers have recourse to ensure the state’s fiscal house is in order and reflective of residents’ wishes.

Mawa Iqbal covers state government and politics for WBEZ and Illinois Public Radio. Follow her on X at @mawa_iqbal.