New York Sen. Chuck Schumer speaks about the Hudson tunnel project in 2023 at Hudson Yards train yard in New York City. On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to permanently stop trying to halt funding for the project. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to permanently stop trying to halt funding for the Gateway tunnel project under the Hudson River.
Judge Jeannette Vargas called the attempts “flagrantly” illegal Monday, The New York Times reported. She said the administration violated federal rules when the Department of Transportation halted reimbursements to the tunnel’s builders in September.
The administration said it froze the funds to stop money from going to “unconstitutional [Diversity, Equity and Inclusion] principles,” The New Jersey Monitor reported. However, President Donald Trump has said several times that he froze the funding to punish Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who has championed the project.
The judge quoted Trump as saying in October: “We’re cutting a $20 billion project that Schumer fought for 15 years to get, and I’m cutting the project. The project is gonna be dead. It’s just pretty much dead right now.”
The Department of Transportation did not determine that the project failed to comply with federal law but did not restore funding. A preliminary order by Vargas restored the money in February after a work stoppage affecting about 1,000 workers, but the case continued.
The $16 billion rail tunnel project would supplement two 116-year-old single-track tunnels under the Hudson between Manhattan and New Jersey, The Times reported. Schumer has called it the most critical infrastructure project in the United States.
The Trump administration never disputed that freezing the funds “flagrantly violates federal law,” the judge said.
Govs. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and Kathy Hochul of New York, together with Attorneys General Letitia James of New York and Jennifer Davenport of New Jersey, issued a joint statement after the judge’s ruling.
“We are grateful that a federal court has once again agreed that the Trump administration’s decision to freeze billions of dollars in grants for the Gateway Tunnel Project is flagrantly unlawful,” they said. “This victory sends a clear message: The Trump administration’s attempt to halt Gateway funding will not stand.”
The federal Department of Transportation said in a statement that it remains “committed to ensuring hard-working taxpayer dollars are being spent responsibly and do not fund unconstitutional, discriminatory contracting practices.”
This week in Washington
News anchors are seen outside the Supreme Court of the United States as the court releases their final opinions before summer recess on Tuesday. The court upheld birthright citizenship and also state laws banning transgender women and girls from playing on school athletic teams. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
