In a move reminiscent of Cold War-era attacks on UE, the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee, fueled by misinformation from far-right political groups, has demanded five years’ worth of financial audits from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). This is a clear attempt to discredit one of the most militant and effective unions in the U.S., and a close UE ally.

The groups behind this attack, the Illinois Policy Institute and its legal arm, the Liberty Justice Center, are the same outfits that initiated the 2018 anti-union Janus decision [1] which stripped union security provisions from public-sector unions across the country. Far from being a model of financial transparency itself, IPI has faced calls for investigation into abuse of its nonprofit status from Members of Congress [2] and the Chicago Sun-Times [3].

This is the result of a coordinated attack, not just on CTU, but on public education, workers’ rights, and democracy. CTU, like UE, is a democratic, rank-and-file union, and its bylaws ensure that financial audits are available to any union member for review. Detailed financials are also publicly available through legally-required filings (LM2s, 990s, PACs). Instead of harassing CTU, the House Education and Workforce Committee — which has also made frivolous requests of UE — should be investigating the dismantling of the Department of Education, the $12 billion in cuts to education in the FY 2026 budget, and the administration’s firing of nearly half of Department of Education employees last year.

For more information, see this update [4] from the CTU website.