Washington — The head of the White House Office of Management and Budget announced on Friday that the Trump administration will be pausing more than $11 billion in Army Corps of Engineers projects. This move includes projects in four Democratic-led cities and continues efforts to increase pressure on Democrats as the government shutdown extends into another week.
“The Democrat shutdown has drained the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to manage billions of dollars in projects. The Corps will be immediately pausing over $11 billion in lower-priority projects and considering them for cancellation, including projects in New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Baltimore,” Russ Vought, director of the budget office, wrote on X. He added that additional information would be provided by the Army Corps of Engineers.
It remains unclear whether the “lower-priority projects” being paused extend beyond those in New York, San Francisco, Baltimore, and Boston — all cities located in states represented by Democrats in the Senate.
Since the early days of the shutdown, which entered its 17th day on Friday and is expected to continue into next week, Vought has been targeting federal funds for projects in Democratic-led cities and states. So far, the Trump administration has frozen roughly $18 billion intended for two infrastructure projects in New York City, canceled $8 billion earmarked for climate-related efforts in 16 states, and withheld $2.1 billion for infrastructure projects in Chicago. Notably, all beneficiary states are represented by Democrats in the Senate.
In addition to pausing funding, Vought has overseen a plan to lay off thousands of federal workers amid the ongoing shutdown. Federal agencies began issuing reduction-in-force notices last week, and Vought estimated that the number of government employees impacted could exceed 10,000. However, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from proceeding with the job cuts, stating during a hearing in San Francisco that the layoffs appeared to be politically motivated.
These actions by the Trump administration appear aimed at ramping up pressure on Democratic lawmakers to support a GOP-backed stopgap funding measure. Democrats have resisted backing the plan, which passed the House last month. Instead, they are pushing for an extension of enhanced health care tax credits set to expire at the end of the year. They also seek to undo cuts to Medicaid included in Mr. Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” passed earlier this year.
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