The Trump administration has paused approximately $18 billion for two New York City infrastructure projects to ensure that “funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles,” Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said Wednesday.
According to Vought, the funding is allocated for the Hudson River Tunnel Project and the Second Avenue Subway.
The OMB director announced the funding hold in a pair of posts on social media.
“Roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles,” Vought wrote Wednesday morning on social platform X.
The term DEI refers to diversity, equity and inclusion policies, which President Donald Trump’s second administration has targeted since taking office.
About an hour after Vought’s posts, the Department of Transportation said that Secretary Sean Duffy’s “position on the DBE [disadvantaged business enterprise] program is clear – subsidizing infrastructure contracts with taxpayer dollars based on discriminatory principles is unconstitutional, counter to civil rights laws, and a waste of taxpayer resources.”
In a statement on X, the DOT said that it had issued “an interim final rule (IFR) barring race- and sex-based contracting requirements from federal grants,” and had sent “letters to New York to inform them that their two mega projects — the 2nd Avenue Subway and Hudson Tunnel — are under administrative review to determine whether any unconstitutional practices are occurring.
“The Department is focusing on these projects because they are arguably the largest infrastructure initiatives in the Western Hemisphere, and the American people want to see them completed quickly and efficiently,” the DOT said.
“Until USDOT’s quick administrative review is complete, project reimbursements cannot be processed, including a $300 million disbursement for the 2nd Avenue Subway,” the statement added. “The remaining federal funding for these projects totals nearly $18 billion.”
The Trump official’s announcement came on the first day of a government shutdown after partisan gridlock in Congress resulted in lawmakers’ failure to pass a stopgap funding bill that would have funded federal agencies for another seven weeks.
While the funding pause for the New York projects is not a result of the shutdown, the DOT said its review of the state’s policies will take longer because of it.
“Thanks to the Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries shutdown, however, USDOT’s review of New York’s unconstitutional practices will take more time,” the DOT said, referring to the minority Democratic leaders of the Senate and House. Both represent New York in their respective chambers.
“Without a budget, the Department has been forced to furlough the civil rights staff responsible for conducting this review,” the department said, calling the situation “another unfortunate casualty of radical Democrats’ reckless decision to hold the federal government hostage.”
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