White House halts $2.1bn of Chicago infrastructure funding
The federal government put $2.1bn earmarked for Chicago infrastructure projects on hold, Office and Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said on Friday, in another jab at a Democrat-led city during the US government shutdown.
Vought wrote on X that projects affected included the Red Line extension – which was set to break ground next year and extend public transport to underserved areas in the city – as well as modernization work to a number of transit lines.
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.
Key events
RFK Jr fires NIH scientist who filed whistle-blower complaint
Three weeks after, Jeane Marrazzo, a leading scientist at the National Institutes of Health filed a whistle-blower complaint against the Trump administration, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr fired her, the New York Times (paywall) reported on Thursday citing her lawyer and a copy of the termination letter.
“Her dismissal is the latest in a series of steps the Trump administration has taken against government scientists and environmental experts after they warned that administration policies were endangering public health and safety,” the NYT notes.
Marrazzo told the paper she received notice of her firing from Kennedy this week, in a letter dated 26 September, in which he wrote that he had the authority to appoint directors of NIH institutes. “Accordingly, in my capacity as secretary, I have decided to terminate your appointment as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease,” he wrote. The letter did not elaborate, and Marrazzo said she was given no further explanation.
Debra S Katz, a lawyer for Marrazzo, said in a statement that the firing was retaliatory. “The Trump Administration terminated Dr. Marrazzo for her advocacy on behalf of critical health research and for her support of the overwhelming body of evidence that shows vaccines are safe and effective,” Katz said.
DOT cites ‘race-based contracting’ as reason for freezing $2bn of Chicago infrastructure funding
In Russell Vought’s announcement that the White House is halting $2bn in funding for infrastructure projects for Chicago, he said the move was “to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting”.
If follows a similar announcement earlier this week involving New York City, where Vought said $18m for infrastructure would be frozen, including funding for a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, due to the Trump administration’s belief that the money was “based on unconstitutional DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] principles”.
Now a statement from the US transportation department echoes the sentiment, declaring a “review of Chicago’s discriminatory, unconstitutional processes”. Through an interim final rule issued this week, it notes that DOT is removing the use of the race- and sex-based presumptions of social and economic disadvantage in contracting requirements for federal grants.
“Illinois, like New York, is well known to promote race- and sex-based contracting and other racial preferences as a public policy,” the statement reads. It refers to the Chicago Transit Authority’s spending on DBE (Disadvantaged Business Enterprise) firms (where at least 51% of the business is owned and controlled by one or more socially and economically disadvantaged individuals) as “discriminatory, illegal and wasteful contracting practices”.
“The American people don’t care what race or gender construction workers, pipefitters , or electricians are,” the statement from the government department adds.
It marks the latest instance since the government shutdown began at midnight on Wednesday of the White House punishing Democrats by withholding money for projects in blue states and cities.
On the same day as the move targeting NYC, the energy department cancelled almost $8bn in funding for projects in 16 states won by Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
The Eisenhower Presidential Library’s director has exited his position after advocating against giving a sword from the collection to King Charles as a gift during Donald Trump’s recent state visit, according to US media reports on Thursday.
Todd Arrington left his post on Monday after being told to “resign or be fired”, he told CBS News, which did not specify who had relayed the message to the historian.
The library and museum – located in former US president Dwight D Eisenhower’s home town in Abilene, Kansas – is part of the National Archives and Records Administration (Nara).
White House halts $2.1bn of Chicago infrastructure funding
The federal government put $2.1bn earmarked for Chicago infrastructure projects on hold, Office and Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said on Friday, in another jab at a Democrat-led city during the US government shutdown.
Vought wrote on X that projects affected included the Red Line extension – which was set to break ground next year and extend public transport to underserved areas in the city – as well as modernization work to a number of transit lines.
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.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics, with the shutdown entering its third day.
Although the Senate is scheduled to return today for another vote, there is little optimism that a deal is imminent as Democrats hold out for a series of health-focused concessions.
Meanwhile, the White House has continued to use its official, taxpayer-funded social media accounts to insult and mock Democrats, treating the standoff more like a political campaign than a negotiation over policy.
In addition, a growing number of federal agencies and staff are explicitly blaming Democrats for the shutdown. The political messaging by the agencies may be a violation of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity.
Furloughed federal employees at some agencies have been instructed to set out-of-office messages explaining that they are not working because Democrats caused a shutdown. Government agency websites also have displayed messages informing site visitors the websites are temporarily on hold due to the “Democrat-led” shutdown.
Other agency websites have used more combative language.
“The radical left has chosen to shut down the United States government in the name of reckless spending and obstructionism,” the treasury department’s website reads.
You can read our full report here
Even warnings over economic damage don’t appear to be encouraging conciliatory moves. A report by EY Parthenon said that every week the shutdown lasts will mean a $7bn hit to the economy.
So stay with us to see what today holds.
