Trump pauses $2.1B for Chicago infrastructure projects, putting long-promised Red Line extension in jeopardy
White House budget director Russ Vought said the Trump administration will withhold $2.1 billion for Chicago infrastructure projects, specifically two long-awaited CTA expansion and modernization projects, expanding funding fights that have targeted Democratic areas during the government shutdown.
The pause affects the CTA Red Line expansion project and the Red and Purple Line modernization project. Vought wrote on social media Friday that the money was "put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting."
He made a similar announcement earlier this week involving New York, where Vought said $18 million for infrastructure would be paused, including funding for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River.
The Biden administration greenlit the funding in January at the end of his presidency. Chicago officials have been working to get the funding for the expansion and Red and Purple line revitalization projects for years.
The project would extend the Red Line 5.6 miles further south to 130th Street, adding four new stations: 103rd Street and 111th Street near Eggleston Avenue, Michigan Avenue near 116th Street, and 130th Street near the Bishop Ford Freeway, just north of Altgeld Gardens.
The CTA will also build a new rail yard and related rail facilities near 120th Street.
The CTA and other city leaders have said the project would shave 30 minutes of commute times between the Far South Side and downtown by reducing the need to transfer from buses to trains, making it easier for many who live in the area to get to their jobs.
Mayor Brandon Johnson was forceful in his criticism of Trump in the wake of the announcement.
"This is another example of how deranged this president is, and how fixated he is on, you know, removing opportunities away from Black and Brown and Asian and working-class communities," Johnson said at an event Friday morning. "For the South Side of Chicago, he is saying that our communities get nothing."
Johnson's three predecessors championed this project, promised since the 1960s.
"The South Side has fought for this for 50 years, and we have finally delivered it. And after 50 years of struggle to make sure that the South Side is prioritized, this president's gonna try to disrupt that," Johnson added. "Not under my watch."
Johnson added, "Look, there's no secret here that I've worked hard to make sure that we have a diverse pool of contractors and that we ensure that the communities that we are investing in, that those communities get to play a part in the development of those communities."
Gov. JB Pritzker said Trump's administration was "holding bipartisan funding hostage" while "federal agents are sowing chaos in Chicago," adding "Using transportation funding to score political points doesn't just hurt the hardworking people who rely on public transit to get to work or school—it weakens our economy, drives away investment, and makes it harder for businesses to thrive."
The Red and Purple Line modernization project recently saw the Berwyn, Bryn Mawr, Lawrence and Argyle CTA Red Line stations reopen on the North Side. It has been replacing century-old tracks, signals, and platforms that had all reached the end of their service lives.
In a statement, the U.S. Department of Transportation said in part, "This week, USDOT issued an interim final rule (IFR) barring race- and sex-based contracting requirements from federal grants.
"To continue implementation of this rule, USDOT today sent letters to the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) to inform them that two projects — the CTA Red Line Extension and the CTA Red and Purple Modernization Program – are also under administrative review to determine whether any unconstitutional practices are occurring. The remaining federal funding for both projects totals $2.1 billion."
CBS News Chicago has reached out to the CTA for their comment and is waiting to hear back.
