Trump admin freezes $11 billion for Democrat cities’ infrastructure projects

Trump administration freezes $11 billion in federal funds earmarked for mostly Democratic cities infrastructure projects The government shutdown continues with no end in sight.

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) director Russell Vought made the announcement Friday, saying the shutdown was on Democrats and that those actions left him no choice but to halt spending.

“The Democratic shutdown has depleted the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to manage multibillion-dollar projects,” Vought wrote to X.

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“The Corps will immediately pause and consider canceling more than $11 billion in low-priority projects, including projects in New York, San Francisco, Boston and Baltimore. More information will come from the Army Corps of Engineers.”

OMB said that New York would be most affected, approximately $7 billion would be frozen, and other affected projects would be in Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Delaware. Reuters.

The money includes $600 million for two aging, federally owned bridges spanning the Cape Cod Canal in Massachusetts that are scheduled to be replaced and carry millions of passengers each year.

OMB told the outlet that President Donald Trump “wants to redirect how the federal government prioritizes Army Corps projects.”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul responded to Vought on X, writing simply: “Good luck with that, Russ. We’ll be in touch.” Maryland Representative Kweisi Mfume wrote to X that the move was “yet another example of the Trump Administration putting partisan politics ahead of the well-being of the American people.”

Workers at the Gateway Program’s Hudson Tunnel Project construction site in New York City on October 3, 2025. Amid the ongoing budget stalemate, the White House has frozen billions of dollars in infrastructure funding, including the Hudson Tunnel and the Second Avenue Subway. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Massachusetts leaders, meanwhile, pushed back after Gov. Maura Healey said senators had not received formal notification from Washington and that the bridge replacement project had been funded and legally approved by Congress.

Vought targeted Big Apple funds by freezing nearly $18 billion in federal money on the first day of the shutdown for two of New York City’s largest infrastructure projects, the Hudson Tunnel and the Second Avenue Subway.

Vought said the money was withheld “to ensure that funding does not flow based on unconstitutional DEI principles.”

The Trump administration had frozen at least $28 billion in previous rounds of infrastructure and climate-related projects. Trump also vowed to cut what he called “Democratic institutions” and sought to eliminate 4,100 federal employees.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is joined by Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Whip Tom Emmer and Brian Steil for a press conference on the tenth day of the government shutdown on October 10, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

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The pause in funding stems from an Oct. 1 shutdown after Senate lawmakers failed to reach a spending deal in time for the end of fiscal 2025 — following a short-term extension of fiscal 2025 funding intended to keep the government open through Nov. 21 — that they passed the House mostly along party lines in early September.

Republicans like Vought blamed the shutdown on Democrats, arguing that Democratic lawmakers had refused to fund the budget to restore taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants through his ongoing decision to include an extension of expired Obamacare tax credits.

Democratic leadership has disputed the claims, saying Trump and Republican lawmakers were actually behind the shutdown.

Fox News’ Amanda Macias and Emma Colton contributed to this report.