US freezes $14 billion of projects across Democrat-voting states in shutdown fight
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The White House budget director says the US Army Corps of Engineers will pause work on “low priority” projects in cities such as New York.
PHOTO: AFP
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WASHINGTON – The Trump administration will freeze another US$11 billion (S$14 billion) worth of infrastructure projects in Democratic states due to the ongoing government shutdown, White House budget director Russell Vought said on Oct 17.
The US Army Corps of Engineers will pause work on “low priority” projects in cities such as New York, San Francisco, Boston and Baltimore, Mr Vought said on social media. He said the projects could eventually be cancelled.
The money includes US$600 million for two ageing, federally owned bridges spanning the Cape Cod canal in Massachusetts that are slated for replacement and carry millions of travellers yearly.
California says Trump ‘weaponising his federal shutdown’
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and the state’s US senators said that despite Mr Vought’s post, “we have not received any information from the federal government regarding this action... This project is moving forward with funding appropriated by a bipartisan Congress and lawfully awarded by the federal government”.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said US President Donald Trump “wants to reorient how the federal government prioritises Army Corps projects”.
The Trump administration has already frozen at least US$28 billion for transportation and energy projects in Democratic-controlled cities and states, as the US President pressures his opponents in Congress to end the shutdown, which began Oct 1.
Mr Trump has also vowed to cut “Democrat Agencies”
The Army Corps projects include a waterfront park in San Francisco, bridge expansions in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and water and wastewater systems in New York City, OMB said.
New York projects account for US$7 billion of the total. Other affected projects are in Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Delaware, OMB said.
All of these states voted against Mr Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
OMB said many of the projects sit in “sanctuary jurisdictions” that have resisted the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The Army Corps did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom said: “Halting lifesaving levee and infrastructure projects that protect red and blue communities alike puts Americans at risk.... Trump is weaponising his federal shutdown to attack communities and Americans he perceives as his political enemies.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul responded to Mr Vought on X: “Good luck with that. We’ll be in touch.” REUTERS
