White House Pauses Massive Funding for Windy City Transit Projects
A government freeze on $2.1 billion earmarked for Chicago infrastructure projects was announced on the end of the week, as stated by Office of Management and Budget Director the official.
Impacted Projects
Included in the plans targeted by the budget pause are the Red Line extension, which was scheduled to start building in the coming year and expand mass transit to underserved areas in the city.
Furthermore, upgrading efforts on a variety of transit lines were also put on hold.
Explanation for the Pause
Vought wrote on X that the funds was “put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”
The statement comes after a parallel action earlier this week involving New York, where the official stated that $18 million for infrastructure would be paused, including money for a proposed subway tunnel under the Hudson.
Government Shutdown Context
This move happens as the national stoppage reaches its 72nd hour, with the Senate scheduled to take a vote later in the day.
Regardless of the scheduled legislative action, there is scant hope that a deal is imminent, as Democrats demand a number of health-related agreements.
Wider Effects
Additionally, a rising tally of federal agencies and personnel are clearly blaming Democrats for the shutdown.
This political messaging by departments may be a violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from conducting partisan political activity.
Furloughed federal employees at various departments have been instructed to set out-of-office messages stating that they are not working because Democrats initiated a stoppage.
A far left has chosen to shut down the United States government in the name of reckless spending and obstructionism,” an official government site reads.
Even, warnings over financial harm are not prompting compromise efforts.
A study by an economic analyst said that every seven-day period the shutdown persists will mean a $7 billion hit to the national economy.
