Olympia [Washington], October 4: The Trump administration on Friday put on hold 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in Chicago infrastructure projects, as the federal government shutdown entered the third day.
The assets were put on hold "to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting," Russell Vought, the White House budget director, said on X.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) replied to Vought's post on X, saying that the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Red Line Extension and the CTA Red and Purple Modernization Program are under administrative review to determine whether any unconstitutional practices are occurring.
The move followed other Trump administration's efforts to withhold funds from Democrat-led states and cities.
On Wednesday, Vought announced that the DOT was freezing 18 billion dollars in federal funding for two major infrastructure projects in New York City.
On Thursday, the Department of Energy canceled nearly 8 billion dollars in funding for climate-related projects and other initiatives, largely in Democratic-led states.
Since the U.S. federal government entered a shutdown on Wednesday, the clash between Republicans and Democrats has escalated, with no deal in sight.
Also on Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reacted to the energy department's 8-billion-dollar funding cuts, saying on X: "They think they're punishing Democrats but what they're really doing is taking a wrecking ball to working families" by raising electric bills, putting local construction workers out of a job, and hurting the economy.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
