Republicans use the government shutdown to attack transportation projects in Democratic cities.
The Department of Transportation is blocking funding to two highly anticipated New York City transportation infrastructure projects.
The Department issued an interim final rule that bars “race- and sex-based contracting requirements from federal grants,” according to a press statement, and issued an administrative review on that basis of two New York transportation infrastructure projects to determine “whether any unconstitutional practices are occurring.”
Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought was first to announce the decision.
“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 said in an X post.
One of these projects is the Hudson Tunnel reconstruction project, a multi-billion-dollar initiative to repair an existing tunnel damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and to construct a new double-track tunnel that would bridge New Jersey and Manhattan. The project is part of an initiative to “improve and expand rail service in the Northeast Corridor, the most heavily traveled passenger rail line in the country,” according to the DOT’s website, so the temporary funding loss is bound to affect more than just New York residents.
