By rosebell
Following that on 1 October, the Trump administration announced a hold on almost US$18bn of funds for the Hudson Tunnel Project and the 2nd Avenue Subway, the White House budget director Russ Vought said in a post on X that this move was to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles.
Once the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) issued an interim final rule, barring race- and sex-based contracting requirements from federal grants, this announcement was published.
With the aim of determining whether any unconstitutional practices are occurring, USDOT has issued letters to New York to inform the city the two projects are under administrative review.
According to USDOT’s statement: “The Department is focusing on these projects because they are arguably the largest infrastructure initiatives in the Western Hemisphere, and the American people want to see them completed quickly and efficiently. Until USDOT’s quick administrative review is complete, project reimbursements cannot be processed, including a US$300m disbursement for the 2nd Avenue Subway. The remaining federal funding for these projects totals nearly US$18bn.”
The statement added: “The review of New York’s unconstitutional practices” would take time because the government shutdown this week meant staff responsible for conducting the review were on furlough.This is another unfortunate casualty of radical Democrats’ reckless decision to hold the federal government hostage to give illegal immigrants benefits.”
