Deadline for Trump administration to unfreeze Gateway Tunnel Project funding passes
Federal funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project is expected to resume after a federal judge ruled the Trump administration needed to unfreeze millions earmarked for New York and New Jersey's massive infrastructure development by Thursday.
The Gateway Development Commission (GDC) said it was anticipating a $205 million reimbursement from the federal government after the deadline passed for an appeals court to allow President Trump's freeze on the Hudson River Tunnel project to continue.
The appeals court set a Feb. 23 hearing on the Trump administration's motion to keep the funds frozen, but it did not allow the federal government to continue withholding the money in the short term.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said on Friday that they should see the money at 1 p.m.
"It's way past time that the president releases the Gateway Tunnel funds. He's illegally stopped them, the courts have spoken, and now it's time for people to get back to work," she said.
Construction remains paused
Construction was halted last Friday, after Mr. Trump abruptly announced in October he was freezing federal funding for the $16 billion project.
Although a judge temporarily blocked Mr. Trump's actions, workers were unable to get back on the job. The temporary restraining order issued prevented the project from shutting down, potentially allowing crews to get back to work while the larger legal battle plays out.
"GDC continues to pursue all avenues to regain access to all the federal funds for this urgent project, including our lawsuit. We are confident in our legal position and look forward to resolving this important matter," the commission said.
Project officials said most construction would remain paused until all federal funding is restored.
Federal officials, state politicians clash in legal battle
Most of the project to fix the critical and aging tunnels is funded by federal grants. The GDC said it and the federal government have been "legally bound" by the terms of the grants since the funding was secured in July 2024.
The Department of Transportation asked the court to pause the restraining order preventing the project shutdown.
"The government will be forced to disburse up to $200 million, without any obvious mechanism for recovering that money if the government prevails on appeal. That is irreparable injury," the government said in its filing.
Sherrill said she was fighting hard to make sure the project is completed and demanded Trump's administration release the money.
"I took the president to court on Friday, and I won. The court demanded release that money, and he has yet to do so," Sherrill said Monday. "Here we are, all this equipment waiting to be put to work, all of you not on the job, because the president of the United States cares more about politics than he does about working men and women in this country."
Sources familiar with the project funding discussions told CBS News New York political reporter Marcia Kramer that Trump demanded naming rights of Penn Station in New York and Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., in exchange for freeing up the funding.
Thousands of jobs in jeopardy from construction pause
The GDC said 1,000 jobs were immediately lost when the pause went into effect at 5 p.m. Friday.
An extended pause would risk 11,000 construction jobs and an estimated 95,000 additional jobs related to the project, officials said.