Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday turned to a familiar kind of Chicago insider, nominating former federal prosecutor and Exelon compliance chief David Glockner to serve as the city’s next inspector general. The move follows the rocky exit of Deborah Witzburg after a tense four-year run marked by repeated clashes with the mayor’s office, and Johnson is now sending Glockner’s name to the City Council for confirmation.
Mayor's pick and immediate reaction
Johnson hailed Glockner as "a seasoned public servant with the experience, independence, and integrity needed to serve as the city's watchdog," casting the choice as a reset for an office that has been at war with City Hall more often than not. Glockner, for his part, said he was "grateful" for the nod and signaled he is ready to step into the political crossfire that comes with the job.
Glockner was one of three finalists selected by a five-member search committee, according to Crain's Chicago Business. Johnson’s team is pitching the nomination as a way to rebuild public confidence in oversight after months of very public friction with the previous inspector general.
Background: ex-prosecutor turned compliance chief
Before stepping into the corporate world, Glockner spent roughly 25 years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois, followed by a stint as a regional director at the Securities and Exchange Commission. He later crossed over to Exelon as Executive Vice President for Compliance, Audit and Risk, where he was tasked with steering the company through a sweeping compliance overhaul in the wake of the ComEd bribery scandal, according to CBS Chicago.
Exelon’s own paperwork shows Glockner departed effective Jan. 1, 2026, per the company’s SEC filings. That timing, and what he did while he was there, will be parsed closely as alderpeople size up his nomination.
ComEd's shadow
At Exelon, Glockner oversaw compliance work tied to a deferred-prosecution agreement that followed the ComEd bribery scandal, a saga that yielded convictions and post-conviction appeals for former company executives and former House Speaker Michael Madigan, according to WTTW. That chapter is expected to be front and center as reform advocates and council members test how independent they believe he can be from the utility giant he just left.
Why the choice matters
Johnson’s pick lands in the middle of a long-simmering power struggle between City Hall and its own watchdog. Witzburg repeatedly accused the administration of blocking access to records and meddling in active investigations, claims she detailed in an interview with the Chicago Sun‑Times.
Good-government groups have warned that a prolonged vacancy in the inspector general’s office and related ethics posts has left City Hall oversight weak and slow, with the watchdog gap has stalled enforcement and heightened calls for a nominee who can quickly restore trust.
What comes next at City Hall
The next step is up to the City Council. If leaders schedule a confirmation hearing, alderpeople are expected to grill Glockner on how he plans to handle recusals involving Exelon and whether he will push for unfettered access to city records for the Office of Inspector General.
Crain's Chicago Business reports that Glockner emerged as one of three finalists from a search committee set up under recent ethics rules, and the council will ultimately decide his fate. If confirmed, he would serve a four-year term.
Legal and ethics considerations
Watchdogs and some alderpeople are likely to demand written recusal plans and clear ground rules for any investigations that could touch Exelon or its affiliates. Exelon’s corporate filings confirm Glockner left the company at the start of the year, but his tenure there is poised to get a thorough airing.
The confirmation process gives council members leverage to spell out protections for the inspector general’s independence, from access to documents to insulation from political pressure, before they take a final vote.
Bottom line
Johnson is betting that Glockner’s mix of prosecutorial chops and corporate compliance experience will steady Chicago’s famously combative oversight apparatus. Reform groups and alderpeople will now decide whether that résumé screams “independent watchdog” or whether they want more guardrails in place before handing him the keys to City Hall’s internal affairs office.
