CHICAGO — Two days of intensive questioning this week have yielded no new jurors in the corruption trial of Michael Madigan, as the already sluggish pace of jury selection slowed to a crawl Wednesday.

Although U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey has been insistent he would not rush the parties though the important process, the judge for the first time suggested time limits for questioning — which he referred to as a “shot clock” — if things don’t improve.

“I think I have a record at this point of a lack of efficiency in questioning,” Blakey said during a midafternoon break, after attorneys had taken nearly an hour and a half to question just three prospective jurors. “I’m not rushing anybody, but I will require them to be efficient, and I think there’s been a little bit of an issue with that.”

Questioning after that became notably more brisk.

Earlier in the day, defense attorneys had spent a significant amount of time grilling a prospective juror about his political stances, asking over and over whether he could really be impartial, given his appreciation of Fox News and his anti-abortion beliefs.

After that prospective juror left the stand, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu complained that, in his view, defense attorneys were trying to exhaust certain jurors with persistent, repetitive questions, in an attempt to get them to admit they couldn’t be fair.

“Wearing a juror down like that for 20 or 30 minutes, at some point they’re probably going to capitulate,” Bhachu said.

Blakey said that prosecutors should object if they think a question has already been asked and answered.

The Fox News-watching juror was later removed by agreement of both prosecutors and defense attorneys.

So far, 11 jurors have been chosen over the course of jury selection, which began Oct. 8 with prospective jurors filling out a written questionnaire. Attorneys still must select one final person for the regular jury as well as six alternates.

Opening statements had initially been expected Tuesday, but that plan was quickly scrapped as attorneys delved into the weeds of each prospective juror’s history and possible biases. The judge then slated openings for next Monday but has since hinted that even that date might be in jeopardy, saying he had a panel of jurors “on call” for that day if they still need them.

“Hope for the best, prepare for the worst,” Blakey told the attorneys late Wednesday.

Madigan, 82, the Democratic powerhouse who served for decades as speaker of the Illinois House, faces racketeering charges alleging he ran his state and political operations like a criminal enterprise, scheming with utility giants ComEd and AT&T to put his cronies on contracts requiring little or no work and using his public position to drum up business for his private law firm.

Both Madigan and his co-defendant, Michael McClain, 77, a former ComEd lobbyist and longtime confidant of Madigan’s, have pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.

The trial is expected to last at least 11 weeks.

A pool of more than 150 potential jurors from all over northern Illinois was called into the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse beginning last week, and attorneys are questioning each member of the panel individually to weed out potential bias. They are being referred to in court only by their juror numbers to protect their privacy.

Prospective jurors have been grilled about their news consumption habits, their familiarity with Madigan, and whether they have any opinions about unions, lobbying or the state of Illinois politics.

A handful of people questioned Wednesday afternoon could still make it onto the jury. Among them are a Chicago Public Schools special education teacher who lives in Ukrainian Village, a woman who works for the Oak Lawn Park District, and a man who works in finance and rides a Ducati motorcycle.

The selection process slowed down considerably from Tuesday morning to midday Wednesday, when 18 prospective jurors were questioned, some of whom were on the witness stand for 45 minutes or longer. The majority of them were rejected from consideration due to apparent bias or hardship.

The handful remaining were kicked off the panel by peremptory strikes, for which attorneys do not have to articulate a reason.

McClain’s attorneys used one peremptory strike Wednesday to remove a retired Lake Forest woman who worked in regulatory matters at a pharmaceutical company.

Madigan on Wednesday used two peremptories, rejecting a man who worked in finance and was originally from near Baltimore and a Bloomingdale woman who said she had in the past received lots of political mailers with an anti-Madigan slant.

Prosecutors used one strike, removing a driver for a beverage company whose mother had run for office in New Jersey as a Republican.

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