The Trump administration froze $2.1 billion in Chicago transit funding on Friday, Octob3r 3 escalating a broader campaign to target Democratic-led areas with funding freezes amid the ongoing government shutdown.
White House Budget Director Russ Vought announced the money, which was earmarked for major public transit projects, had been put on hold to “ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”
The two major projects affected are the highly anticipated Red Line Extension which would add new stations and extend service to the city’s far South Side, connecting some of its most disadvantaged, predominantly Black neighborhoods and the Red and Purple Line modernization project on the North Side.
Local leaders have forcefully criticized the move, noting the Red Line Extension was considered the city’s most important new transit project in 50 years and would provide a vital economic boost.
This funding freeze in Chicago, the nation’s third-largest city and a frequent target of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric, is part of a larger pattern that has seen at least $28 billion in funding withheld from Democratic-controlled areas, including transit developments in New York and green-energy projects in states like California and Colorado.
The action came on the third day of the federal government shutdown, with an attempt to end the standoff failing again in the Senate on Friday. A Republican funding plan did not pass, falling short of the required 60 votes, which ensured the shutdown would continue.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a prominent critic of the President, called the funding freeze “hostage-taking,” arguing it was an attempt to score political points that would harm the economy and public transit users. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson pledged to use “every tool at our disposal to restore this funding.”