Trump administration freezes $11 billion for Democratic city infrastructure projects

The Trump administration is freezing $11 billion in federal funds intended for majority-Democratic cities. infrastructure projects as the government shutdown continues with no end in sight.

Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), made the announcement Friday while blaming the shutdown on Democrats, whose actions he said left him with no choice but to halt spending.

“The Democratic shutdown has exhausted the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to manage billions of dollars in projects,” Vought said on X.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought speaks with reporters outside the West Wing of the White House July 17, 2025, as workers continue construction on the Hudson River Tunnel project in New York. The White House is suspending $18 billion in infrastructure funding, including the Hudson Tunnel and Second Avenue Subway, amid the ongoing federal shutdown. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Trump is using the government shutdown to do something no president has ever done.

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

New York will be hit hardest, with about $7 billion frozen while other affected projects are in Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Delaware, the OMB said, according to the OMB. Reuters.

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

The OMB told the outlet that President Donald Trump “wants to reorient 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 will contact you,” while Maryland Rep. Kweisi Mfume wrote on X that the move is “another example of the Trump administration putting partisan politics ahead of the well-being of the American people.”

Workers at a construction site for the Gateway Program’s Hudson Tunnel project in New York, October 3, 2025. The White House has frozen billions in infrastructure funds, including money for the Hudson Tunnel and Second Avenue Subway, amid an ongoing budget impasse. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, Massachusetts leaders also pushed back, with Gov. Maura Healey saying senators had received no official notification from Washington and that the bridge replacement project remained funded and legally approved by Congress.

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

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

The Trump administration has already frozen at least $28 billion in previous rounds of infrastructure and climate-related projects. Trump has also pledged to eliminate what he calls “Democratic agencies” and has sought to eliminate 4,100 federal jobs.

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, October 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

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The pause in funding stems from the Oct. 1 shutdown after Senate lawmakers failed to reach a spending deal in time for the end of fiscal 2025 — after a short-term extension of FY 2025 funding, aimed at keeping the government open through Nov. 21 — passed the House mostly along partisan lines earlier in September.

Republicans like Vought have placed blame for the shutdown on Democrats, arguing that they refused to fund the budget as an attempt to restore taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants through Democratic lawmakers’ continuing resolution, which would include extending the expiring Obamacare tax credits.

Democratic leaders disputed those claims, saying Trump and Republican lawmakers were actually behind the shutdown.

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