The Trump administration escalated its shutdown pressure campaign Friday by freezing $2.1 billion earmarked for Chicago transit projects, a move Illinois leaders denounced as political retaliation.
The Department of Transportation said the freeze applied to two major projects overseen by the Chicago Transit Authority: a 5.5-mile extension of the Red Line with four new stations, and the Red and Purple Modernization Project, which upgrades decades-old elevated infrastructure.
Budget Director Russell Vought announced the halt in a social media post, writing: "$2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects - specifically the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project - have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting."
The DOT later said the projects were subject to an interim rule barring "race- and sex-based contracting requirements" from federal grants. "Illinois, like New York, is well known to promote race- and sex-based contracting and other racial preferences as a public policy," the department stated.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker blasted the decision. "At a time when federal agents are sowing chaos in Chicago, the Trump administration is holding bipartisan funding hostage," Pritzker wrote on X. "It's attempting to score political points but is instead hurting our economy and the hardworking people who rely on public transit to get to work or school."
The freeze is the latest in a series of funding actions directed at Democratic strongholds. Earlier in the week, Vought halted $18 billion for New York infrastructure projects and announced the cancellation of nearly $8 billion in climate-related investments in 16 Democratic-leaning states.
President Donald Trump has framed the standoff as an opportunity. The shutdown has given me an "unprecedented opportunity" to cut "Democrat Agencies," he said Thursday, vowing to impose broader reductions in the federal workforce. A White House official, speaking anonymously, said multiple agencies have already submitted workforce reduction plans.
The Chicago action comes as the shutdown, now in its third day, stalls roughly $1.7 trillion in government funding. Essential services remain in operation, but paychecks for more than 2 million federal workers are suspended, and regulatory agencies have been forced to scale back operations.
Democrats in Congress have accused the administration of manufacturing a crisis to strip health care subsidies that help more than 20 million Americans afford coverage. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have insisted any funding extension must include pandemic-era subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans have countered that Democrats are using the shutdown as leverage. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Trump's approach complements GOP strategy. "President Trump is just as anxious as we are to get the government back open," Johnson told reporters. "Is he trying to apply pressure to make that happen? He probably is, yeah. And I applaud that."
