The Trump administration’s surprise federal funding freeze met widespread condemnation in Illinois, as state leaders scrambled to fight the spending pause that spurred chaos and confusion prior to being temporarily blocked by a federal judge minutes before it was set to go into effect Jan. 28.

Gov. JB Pritzker vowed that Illinois would stand against the newly inaugurated president’s attempt to potentially halt trillions of dollars in federal financial assistance, calling the move unlawful and a threat to millions of residents statewide.

“What Donald Trump tried to do in the last 24 hours was illegal,” Pritzker said during a press conference that day. “Let’s be clear: This is a demonstration of cruelty against people who depend on us.”

Yet just over the border in Indiana, the top state official praised the austerity measure, which was designed to root out progressive agendas, promote efficiency and end “wokeness” through federal spending nationwide.

Republican Gov. Mike Braun thanked President Donald Trump for his “level of fiscal discipline,” adding that the freeze was “in line with the values of Hoosiers” as well as the millions of Americans who elected the president to his second term.

“I applaud @realDonaldTrump’s direction to pause government spending, fulfilling his campaign promise to rein in out-of-control government,” Braun said in a post on social media site X that was liked 1,400 times. “I am confident we will continue to deliver needed services to Hoosiers with efficiency, doing more with less.”

As the era of Trump 2.0 unfolds, the two neighboring states have taken disparate approaches to the whirlwind of change that’s gripped American politics over the past few weeks.

While Illinois has become the heart of a national resistance movement against the Trump agenda, top leaders in neighboring Indiana have largely embraced the president’s platform, including federal moves to curb government spending, immigration crackdowns, rollbacks of LGBTQ initiatives and attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

Illinois and Indiana, as a whole, are vastly different politically and culturally: a blue state and red state side by side in the center of the nation, separated by a 159-mile border, with divergent laws on everything from reproductive rights to gun control to gender-affirming health care.

Indiana’s previous governors over the past decade — former Vice President Mike Pence and more recently Eric Holcomb — have been known as staunch conservatives.

But some Hoosiers say the freshly sworn-in governor and his administration are bringing a new era of Republican politics to Indiana, modeled after Trump and his MAGA contingent.

“The current Gov. Mike Braun is a whole different level of Republican from what Gov. Pence or Gov. Holcomb was,” said the Rev. David Greene Sr., president of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis. “That ideology of President Trump, (Braun’s) going to be doing at the state level.”

Braun did not return a Tribune request for comment.

Greene predicted that Trump-endorsed Braun and his team will be paving the way for the president’s vision for America and that Indiana will become a laboratory of sorts for Project 2025, a controversial conservative blueprint to drastically overhaul the federal government.

“Some of the stuff Trump’s thinking about doing, Gov. Braun will probably do first to test the waters here in Indiana,” the pastor said. “He’s going to be out front. Indiana is going to lead in a lot of things you’re going to see coming out of Project 2025. You’re going to see Indiana doing it first and then Trump.”

Andy Qunell, the Republican Party treasurer for Lake County, Indiana, said he’s pleased with the service of Trump and Braun so far.

His northwest Indiana county is in the Chicago metropolitan area, one of the state’s few Democratic-leaning pockets that favored Kamala Harris in November.

“Both the Trump administration and the Braun administration are doing exactly what we voted for them to do,” Qunell said. “They have made the government more accountable for its actions and spending, something you never see in Illinois.”

Both Braun and Trump won decisive victories in Indiana in November. With more than 54% of the vote, Braun defeated Democrat Jennifer McCormick and Libertarian Don Rainwater. Almost 59% of Hoosier voters favored Trump this past election, an increase from about 57% in 2020 and 2016. Trump got nearly 44% of the votes in Illinois, with Harris, the Democratic vice president, winning more than 54%.

While the nation might seem to have grown more politically polarized this past election, American citizens are actually “decidedly and surprisingly moderate” politically, particularly compared to their elected officials, said Sean Westwood, associate professor in the department of government at Dartmouth College and director of the Polarization Research Lab, an academic research group and resource hub.

The policies and politics of elected leaders are often more extreme than most of their constituents would prefer because the primary system tends to produce a slate of candidates that are more polarized than the general electorate, Westwood said.

“Illinois and Indiana are two great examples of where elected officials are taking the most extreme possible position — total rejection and total acceptance — despite the electorate in both states preferring a more moderate stance,” he said.

As for Trump, one of his first acts after his inauguration was signing an executive order to rename the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America.”

In a satirical video mocking the president, Pritzker earlier this month announced plans to rename Lake Michigan “Lake Illinois,” because “a Great Lake deserves to be named after a great state.”

“The proclamation has been forwarded to Google to ensure the world’s maps reflect this momentous change,” the governor deadpanned during the recording.

In contrast, Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, an ultra-conservative pastor and podcaster, posted a video on X of the president proudly riding in Air Force One over the shores of his newly dubbed “Gulf of America.”

“Gulf of America baby!” Beckwith wrote on the social media site, beside an emoji of the American flag. “@realDonaldTrump is off to one of the greatest starts in presidential history!”

‘Unprecedented’

Illinois has become renowned for immigration crackdown dissidence, to the chagrin of top Trump officials.

Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson have promised to protect and support law-abiding noncitizens; churches, nonprofits and other groups have hosted a blitz of immigration “Know Your Rights” education sessions across the Chicago area.

In frustration, Trump border czar Tom Homan referred to immigration enforcement in Chicago as “a game of cat and mouse,” complaining during a recent interview on CNN that undocumented residents in the area have grown very educated about their rights and ways to evade immigration enforcement.

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit earlier this month challenging sanctuary policies in Illinois, Cook County and Chicago, arguing that they impede the ability of federal immigration officers to carry out their duties.

Indiana has taken the opposite strategy of Illinois: Braun signed his own executive order reflecting and supporting the president’s clampdown, quoting directly from Trump several times.

Indiana law enforcement must fully cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and “perform the functions of immigration officers in relation to the investigation, apprehension, or detention of individuals illegally or unlawfully present in the United States,” according to the order. ICE is housing several detainees apprehended by its Chicago field office in rural Clay County, Indiana, because they cannot be held in Illinois.

“Over the last four years, the increase in (undocumented migrants) flooding our country has created a significant threat to public safety for Hoosiers and allowed bad actors to abuse American generosity, costing taxpayers at every level. That ends now,” Braun said in a late January statement, adding that he’s offering the help of the Indiana National Guard at the southern border.

While most legislative sessions in Indiana see a few immigration bills, lawmakers have filed roughly a dozen in the past six weeks.

“The volume of anti-immigration legislation that is being pushed at the federal and the state level here in Indiana is just overwhelming,” said Carolina Castoreno, co-founder of the Alliance for Latino Migrant Advocacy in Indianapolis.

The Indiana Statehouse has been the site of various protests over the past few weeks, as demonstrators challenged the local and federal conservative agenda. On Feb. 5, Hoosiers joined a nationwide protest against Trump and Project 2025. Three days later, demonstrators also gathered there to condemn Braun’s immigration order.

Amid the threat of mass deportations nationwide, Castoreno described a sense of fear in Indianapolis that’s similar to the experience in the Chicago area, as many undocumented immigrants have stayed home or expressed anxiety about going to work, school and church.

The main difference is that those in Indiana don’t have the same protection and sense of solidarity from their leaders, she said.

“We definitely do not feel we have any support publicly from (elected officials),” Castoreno said.

Although she and other progressive advocates have been envious of various policies and practices in Illinois, some sections of the Prairie State have expressed increasing dissatisfaction with the generally left-leaning agenda here. In November, seven Downstate counties voted to consider seceding from Illinois and forming a new state; that was in addition to roughly two dozen other counties that have also explored breaking away.

In a Tribune opinion piece last month, Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston encouraged them to join Indiana.

“Though we welcome this opportunity to highlight what’s great about the Hoosier State, Indiana didn’t dream this scenario up,” he wrote. “Illinois residents are voting at the ballot box and quite literally with their feet to leave a state they feel no longer represents or serves them.”

Huston’s piece culminated by trying to persuade those discontented in the Land of Lincoln to “join the former Illinois residents who have already chosen Indiana by moving here.”

“You will be welcomed,” he wrote.

War on DEI

During Indiana’s State of the State address in late January, Braun spoke of promoting government efficiency, cutting property taxes and the need to help farmers, seniors and families.

The governor also announced that diversity, equity and inclusion were concepts of the past.

“We replaced the political DEI ideology with a level playing field of MEI — Merit, Excellence, and Innovation. Diversity and equality are hallmarks of what we believe as a country, but these top-down DEI mandates led to division and inefficiency,” he said. “MEI puts merit and results at the forefront, and everyone has the chance to get ahead with hard work.”

Braun signed an executive order earlier that month abolishing DEI programs, including closing the Office of the Chief Equity, Inclusion and Opportunity Officer, which former governor Holcomb created in 2020.

In protest, members of the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus boycotted the State of the State address and instead hosted a “unity rally.”

Greene, the leader of the Concerned Clergy of Indiana, was alarmed by the state’s DEI purge.

“I think there’s a complete misunderstanding of what DEI was and is. It’s not a handout. It’s an opportunity. So a lot of opportunities are not going to happen for Black people in Indiana,” said Greene, who recently testified against DEI rollbacks before Indiana lawmakers.

The recent anti-DEI measures in Indiana were in line with Trump’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which he called “illegal and immoral discrimination programs” in an executive order.

Pritzker, however, has defended and promoted DEI initiatives.

“DEI is, you know, (there’s) this idea that it’s a term that occurs in the back rooms of big corporations, Wall Street and otherwise,” he said at a press conference last month. “The reality is what they’re trying to tear down is something much broader — civil rights in the United States. That’s what they’re attacking.”

The Illinois governor has also made LGBTQ rights a priority of his administration, with Illinois serving as a haven for gender-affirming care that has become harder for transgender patients to access in many Midwestern states.

In Indiana, the American Civil Liberties Union has tracked eight bills it defines as “anti-LGBTQ” moving through the legislature as of Feb. 7.

This climate appears to be affecting higher education LGBTQ programs in the state, with potential consequences for academic freedom.

Ball State University has paused plans for an upcoming LGBTQ staff training session, citing pending Indiana legislation. The April event “LGBTQ 101” was to be part of the university’s annual Learning and Development session, according to a university spokesman.

“Amid bills that have been introduced in Indiana’s current legislative session, leadership of the Office of Inclusive Excellence at Ball State felt it was prudent to pause this session until there is further clarity,” the university said in a statement, though it did not mention any specific bills.

The Indiana University School of Medicine has canceled its annual LGBTQ+ Health Care Conference, according to the university website.

Legal expert Chris Geidner said in a blog post that he was asked in late January to be a keynote speaker at the event, which was scheduled for April and took place for the past eight years; two days later, he was informed that the conference was canceled, according to his blog post and emails sent to Geidner from an Indiana University email address.

University officials did not respond to requests for comment.

The cancellation email Geidner received cited “multiple emerging factors and circumstances beyond the control of Indiana University School of Medicine” as the reason for the cancelation, but no other explanation.

Geidner’s blog post attributed the event cancellation to trickle-down from the Trump administration’s policies and rhetoric, saying in part, “Donald Trump is president, and he is empowering his people to disempower anyone not like him.”

“Getting rid of this conference … doesn’t change the fact that there are still going to be people in their communities who have need for doctors and medical providers who understand the needs of the LGBTQ community,” Geidner said during an interview with the Tribune. “Just getting rid of a conference isn’t going to change that reality.”

University faculty have also been expressing concerns about academic freedom and their ability to research and disseminate findings in legitimate academic gatherings, such as that LGBTQ health conference, said Philip Goff, president of the Indiana University Indianapolis Faculty Council.

“Its focus was on research and medical treatment of a population with specific needs. The fear among faculty is that universities and professional societies will overcomply in anticipation of future salvos in the culture wars,” he said. “Research and dissemination of that work is not the same as activism and advocacy. It is descriptive and can save lives.”

Political divide nationwide

Lake County Councilman and Republican Party Chairman Randy Niemeyer said he believes the political divide between Illinois and Indiana is actually shrinking, at least when it comes to average residents.

“I really don’t feel that huge of a difference between the people of Illinois and the people of Indiana,” he said. “I think the areas that get attention like Chicago get the contrast. But when you meet average everyday people, there’s not that big of a political chasm…. I think we share a lot more Midwestern, commonsense values than what people think.”

In terms of governance, Porter County Republican Party Chair Michael Simpson said the biggest difference is that almost all of Indiana is represented by Republican leaders and “that reflects our state.”

By comparison, Illinois is largely governed by Cook County “and, therefore, is not reflective of the state at large,” Simpson said.

“It’s no wonder why people tired of corruption and poor leadership are flocking across the border to lay down roots in Indiana,” he said. “We just ask that they keep their Chicago politics on the other side of the dividing line.”

Westwood, director of the Polarization Research Lab, explained that in states like Illinois and Indiana where one political party dominates, the candidates from that dominant party tend to move to the extreme to win the primary election.

He added that this political polarization is happening across America: The result has been drastically different legal and political environments across states — even adjacent ones like Indiana and Illinois.

“Moving from state to state can now radically shift the rights and freedoms some citizens experience,” he added, “instead of just the sales tax rate.”

eleventis@chicago tribune.com