The White House announces a freeze on $11 billion infrastructure projects due to the government shutdown
Russell Vought, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget at the White House, announced on Friday, October 17, the decision of the U.S. administration to freeze a new package of infrastructure projects worth $11 billion, in several states run by Democratic leadership, attributing the decision to the ongoing government shutdown crisis.
Vought explained, via a post on social media, that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will temporarily halt work on projects he described as "low priority" in cities including New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Baltimore. He added that the fate of these projects could ultimately lead to their "permanent cancellation".
Among the most affected projects by the decision is the replacement of two aging federal bridges spanning the Cape Cod Canal in Massachusetts, which had been allocated about $600 million, noting that the bridges serve millions of travelers annually.
In response to this announcement, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, along with state senators, expressed their discontent. They stated in a statement: "Despite Vought's post, we have not received any official information from the federal government regarding this action." They emphasized that the project "is moving forward with the funding allocated by Congress with bipartisan approval and legally granted by the federal government".
For its part, the Office of Management and Budget confirmed in a separate statement that President Donald Trump "wants to refocus on how the federal government prioritizes projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers".
It is worth noting that this step is not the first of its kind, as the U.S. administration had previously frozen funding of at least $28 billion for projects in the transportation and energy sectors, in cities and states controlled by Democrats. These measures come as part of the pressure exerted by the Republican president on his opponents in Congress to end the government shutdown that has been ongoing since October 1.
