By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. government has put $2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects on hold, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said on Friday, in another jab at a Democratic-led city during the government shutdown.
Vought said $2.1 billion for major Chicago subway projects — the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project “have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”
On Wednesday, Vought said the administration of President Donald Trump had frozen $18 billion for major transit projects in New York, including the Hudson Tunnel and the Second Avenue Subway, citing the same issue.
The Trump administration’s Energy Department on Wednesday said it would cancel nearly $8 billion for hundreds of energy projects in 16 Democratic-led states, including California and New York.
The outgoing administration of former president Joe Biden finalized a nearly $2 billion award in its final days to help extend the Red Line 5.5 miles to connect Chicago Far South Side to the L system. The Biden administration said the project would “address inequalities in access and economic investment in predominantly Black and disadvantaged neighborhoods.”
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and the Chicago Transit Authority, which handles more than 300 million passengers yearly and is the third largest U.S. transit agency, did not immediately comment.
USDOT has previously threatened transit funding for New York, Chicago and Boston on a number of grounds. Trump on Thursday vowed to cut “Democrat Agencies,” as he looks to inflict pain on his political opposition.
Trump has repeatedly vowed to send National Guard troops to police Chicago. In recent days, there have been growing scenes of conflict involving federal immigration agents in Chicago and its suburbs.
Vought cited a new rule from the Transportation Department that took effect Wednesday to review whether any small-business contractors are engaged in improper diversity initiatives. This is one of a series of efforts intended to pressure Democratic lawmakers in Congress over the partial government shutdown that began just after midnight Wednesday.
USDOT said it would not process a $300 million reimbursement due for the subway project pending the review, which it said was hampered by the government shutdown.
The $17.2 billion Hudson River tunnel project, which received more than $11 billion in federal grants, involves repairs to an existing tunnel, and the building of a new one for passenger railroad Amtrak and commuter lines between New Jersey and Manhattan.
Any failure of the current Hudson tunnel, which was heavily damaged by 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, would hobble commuting in the metropolitan area that produces 10% of the country’s economic output.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Doina Chiacu, Susan Heavey; Editing by Brendan O’Brien and Chizu Nomiyama)
