The Trump administration is “pausing” more than $11 billion in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water infrastructure projects across 12 Democrat-led states, the Director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, announced last week.
The affected states include California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Oregon, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Colorado. About $7 billion was earmarked for New York.
Vought said on X that the projects are “under review” and may be canceled due to Democrats’ alleged role in the government shutdown, which he claimed has “drained the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to manage billions of dollars in projects.”
The affected states include California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Oregon, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Colorado
The OMB has not released a full list of affected projects. According to an OMB spokesperson, the administration aims to “reorient how the federal government prioritizes Army Corps projects,” adding, “The Army Corps shouldn’t be funding bike lanes in Cape Cod, billion-dollar fish ladders, and municipal sewage systems.”
Several major initiatives under review include work at New York Harbor, the Port of Long Beach, Baltimore Harbor, and the San Francisco Bay Area. The spokesperson also criticized the affected states as “sanctuary” jurisdictions that limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
Army Corps spokesperson Doug Garman said the agency is following Defense Department media policies during the shutdown: “We are unable to respond to queries during the lapse in appropriations as it does not relate to life, health, safety or national security.”
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, condemned the move on X: “An administration run by crooks and cowards is ONCE AGAIN illegally and punitively blocking funds for JUST blue states,” she wrote. “I’m not intimidated by miserable thugs like Russ Vought, and you shouldn’t be either.”
