Trump administration halts $11 billion in infrastructure funding amid shutdown standoff
The Trump administration has frozen an additional $11 billion in infrastructure spending, targeting projects in Democratic-led states as part of the ongoing government shutdown dispute, White House budget director Russell Vought announced Friday.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will suspend work on what the administration deems “low-priority” projects in major cities, including New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Baltimore. Vought said the projects could later be canceled entirely, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Among the affected funding is $600 million for the replacement of two aging bridges over the Cape Cod Canal in Massachusetts, which serve millions of travelers each year.
State officials, including Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and the state’s U.S. senators, criticized the move, saying they had received no formal notice from the federal government. “This project was lawfully funded by a bipartisan Congress,” they said in a joint statement.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said President Donald Trump aims to “reorient how the federal government prioritizes Army Corps projects.”
Since the shutdown began on October 1, the administration has already frozen at least $28 billion in transportation and energy initiatives, primarily in Democratic-run cities and states. The move is seen as part of Trump’s broader strategy to pressure Congress to end the funding deadlock.
Trump has also pledged to cut “Democrat Agencies” and eliminate 4,100 federal jobs, intensifying political tensions in Washington.
According to OMB, New York accounts for $7 billion of the newly frozen funds. Other affected states include California, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Delaware — all of which voted against Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
Critics say the decision endangers public safety and infrastructure resilience. A spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom called the freeze “a reckless act that puts lives at risk,” adding that Trump is “weaponizing his federal shutdown to attack political opponents.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also pushed back, writing on X: “Good luck with that. We’ll be in touch.”
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