Michael McCuskey, the Illinois Legislature’s top ethics watchdog whose tenure has become clouded by recent controversy after his investigation determined a former state lawmaker’s sexual harassment of women violated state law, is resigning the post.

McCuskey, a former state and federal judge, submitted a letter of resignation on Aug. 31 to the eight-member bipartisan, bicameral Legislative Ethics Commission. As the commission was posting a notice of vacancy in the office, McCuskey said he submitted an end date for his employment of Sept. 30.

It was unclear if the commission, made up of four Democrats and four Republicans, with two members from each of the House and Senate’s caucuses, would accept McCuskey’s end date or act to have McCuskey removed sooner. The commission also has the power to terminate McCuskey for cause.

But by posting the notice of vacancy and the process to fill it, the commission made it clear it was taking steps to remove McCuskey from the position, which the Legislature appointed him to in February 2022 for a term ending in mid-2028.

Questions about McCuskey have become one more issue in the larger controversy over sexual harassment inside the Illinois Capitol, where now-former state Rep. Harry Benton, a Plainfield Democrat, resigned in July amid an investigation by McCuskey’s office.

While McCuskey found Benton had violated state law by engaging in sexual harassment, one of Benton’s victims, a female lobbyist, raised questions about McCuskey’s behavior during his investigation. She accused McCuskey of inaccurately characterizing her side of the story and, in a letter she sent to Illinois’ four top legislative leaders and first reported by the Tribune, said McCuskey “violated the confidence of other victims and me, broke standard investigative norms, and made inappropriate comments” to her during their interview and in other interactions with her about her allegations against Benton.

The complaints about McCuskey followed questions about how House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch handled the Benton situation.

Earlier this year, Welch filed a complaint with the legislative inspector general after receiving reports of harassment about Benton regarding his behavior with the lobbyist. Around that time, another woman’s allegations from last year against Benton also became part of the complaint.

But a Tribune investigation published in July, before McCuskey’s report became public, detailed that Welch’s office had been made aware of a previous sexual harassment complaint regarding Benton years earlier, yet Welch didn’t discipline Benton or request an investigation by the legislative inspector general at that time. A young female employee who had worked in Benton district office reported her allegations to the speaker’s then-chief of staff in April 2023, the Tribune found.

Welch, who became House speaker in 2021 after #MeToo issues helped lead to the downfall of veteran and now-imprisoned Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, has found his own leadership questioned for failing to act sooner against Benton. Welch also publicly apologized to the former Benton staffer for unrelated social messages Welch sent her that she said made her feel “uncomfortable.”

The whole issue raises questions about the efficacy of Illinois’ ethics laws, amid Welch’s promises to strengthen them, with the only resulting action so far being a deposed legislative watchdog and no substantive changes to the law.

____

©2026 Chicago Tribune. Visit at chicagotribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.