A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration must unfreeze billions of dollars in funding for the Gateway tunnel, an infrastructure project that would create a new two-track rail tunnel from New Jersey to Penn Station in Manhattan.
The administration froze funds for the project in October as it conducted a review to ensure it complied with a rule “barring race- and sex-based contracting requirements from federal grants.” The states of New Jersey and New York filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in response as construction was set to shut down on Friday, arguing the pause was unlawful and solely “based on the President’s desire to punish political rivals.”
District Judge Jeannette Vargas, a Biden appointee, responded to the suit on Friday night, temporarily blocking the Trump administration’s freeze on the project’s funds. Vargas determined that the states “have adequately shown that the public interest would be harmed by a delay in a critical infrastructure project.”
Her ruling now frees up over $16 billion in funding that Congress allocated to the project and ends, at least for now, a stalemate between the administration and New York and New Jersey Democrats.
Last month, President Donald Trump met with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to discuss the funding, failing to reach an agreement.
NEW JERSEY AND NEW YORK SUE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER FROZEN GATEWAY TUNNEL FUNDING
Those discussions did, however, include an odd proposal from Trump. In exchange for the Gateway funds, Trump reportedly asked Schumer to rename Penn Station and Washington Dulles International Airport after him, which the senator declined.
Trump touched on those talks with reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, claiming that Schumer “suggested” the name changes. Schumer called that claim an “absolute lie” and once again urged the president to unfreeze the funding.
