State GOP chief slams Lisa Madigan as doing ‘father’s bidding’

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider on Monday cranked up the state GOP’s portrayal of Attorney General Lisa Madigan as a tool of her father, House Speaker Michael Madigan, for taking a position contrary to Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Schneider slammed the attorney general for her decision to challenge a court order that has allowed state workers to continue to be paid while the state goes without a budget.

“It’s not surprising that Lisa Madigan would do her father’s bidding. The speaker paved the way for her entire political career. But it’s frankly outrageous the attorney general would choose Mike Madigan, her father, over the people of Illinois,” Schneider said during a press briefing.

Rauner, one of the main funders of the state GOP, had previously complained that the Madigans are trying to create a crisis by causing a shutdown of state government.

The attorney general has argued the Illinois Constitution requires state workers not be paid without an appropriation approved by the Legislature and governor.

“By asking the court to uphold the Constitution, we will finally solve this destructive crisis — not create one,” she wrote in a recent op-ed in the Springfield Journal-Register.

Schneider said Lisa Madigan’s real purpose is “to advance her father’s political interests.”