By: Emily Nixon
On Oct. 1, the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) announced that $18 billion in funding for two large-scale transportation projects, the Second Avenue Subway and the Gateway Tunnel, has been withheld pending an “administrative review” of whether “any unconstitutional practices are occurring,” according to a statement by the USDOT.
“Until USDOT’s quick administrative review is complete, project reimbursements cannot be processed. Including a $300 million disbursement for the 2nd Avenue Subway. The remaining federal funding for these projects totals nearly $18 billion.”
The Second Avenue Subway project aims to add three new subway stations in an effort to expand services to Harlem, according to the New York Times (NYT).
“The addition of three subway stations above 96th Street will make commutes easier for more than 100,000 East Harlem residents, whose closest subway stations are a long walk away,” stated the NYT. “There is currently no subway service to the neighborhood east of Lexington Avenue.”
The Gateway Tunnel project, the larger of the two affected by the funding lapse, was meant to upgrade the train service for residents of New York (NY) and New Jersey (NJ) alike.
“The Gateway project is the second attempt at building an additional rail tunnel to increase capacity and improve the reliability of train service between New York and points west and south,” reported the NYT.
The Gateway Tunnel has been previously challenged by the Trump administration, according to Politico.
“Trump delayed the tunnel project during his first term. Then President Joe Biden and Schumer (D-N.Y.) directed billions of dollars toward it in an attempt to Trump-proof the tunnel,” reported Politico. “For months, Trump has not questioned the project and directed hundreds of millions of dollars toward it in a budget proposal.”
The official statement from USDOT stated that the projects’ funding was being withheld due to a review of their contractual policies, which had been delayed due to the government shutdown, causing a lack of workforce. The USDOT claims that blame for the shutdown falls on the Democrats.“Thanks to the Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries shutdown, however, USDOT’s review of New York’s unconstitutional practices will take more time. Without a budget, the Department has been forced to furlough the civil rights staff responsible for conducting this review. This is another unfortunate casualty of radical Democrats’ reckless decision to hold the federal government hostage to give illegal immigrants benefits.”
During his inaugural day in office, President Donald Trump released many executive orders, one of which detailed a duty to terminate all programs seen as “discriminatory.”
“The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), assisted by the Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), shall coordinate the termination of all discriminatory programs, including illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear,” stated the Executive Order.
This executive order is being used as the guideline to review the contracting practices being used by the administrations in charge of the transportation projects.
“The Department of Transportation had written New York to inform the state the two projects were under administrative review to determine whether the state was subsidizing infrastructure contracts with taxpayer money based on discriminatory principles, referring to DOT’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program,” reported Politico.
The OMB, a federal agency responsible for “overseeing the implementation of his [the President’s] vision across the Executive Branch,” sent an email to various administrations in the federal government giving guidance to administrations in the event that the shutdown should occur.
The email explicitly and repeatedly points to the Democrats as to blame for “choos[ing] to pursue a shutdown” and “blocking this clean CR [continuing resolution] due to their partisan demands.”
In the same email, OMB recommends administrations to review and consider assigning “reduction in force (RIF) notices” to employees who meet a certain criterion, one being if their work does not align with the presidential priorities.
“Agencies are directed to use this opportunity to consider Reduction in Force (RIF) notices for all employees in programs, projects, or activities (PPAs) that satisfy all three of the following conditions: (1) discretionary funding lapses on October 1, 2025; (2) another source of funding, such as H.R. 1 (Public Law 119-21) is not currently available; and (3) the PPA is not consistent with the President’s priorities,” stated the email.
As the shutdown continues, more agencies are making decisions on what is important to keep and what can be paused. Federal contracts and loans have all been paused until Congress can pass a spending bill reinstating the budgets necessary to run the country, which means projects such as the Second Avenue Subway and the Gateway Tunnel will continue to be postponed or delayed until further notice.