White House Pauses $2.1 Billion for Windy City Transit Projects

A federal freeze on $2.1 billion earmarked for Chicago's transportation plans was revealed on the weekend, according to Office of Management and Budget Director the official.

Impacted Projects

Included in the projects targeted by the budget pause involve the Red Line extension, which was set to begin construction in the coming year and expand transportation services to less served areas in the metropolis.

Moreover, improvement efforts on a series of public transport routes were also frozen.

Reasoning for the Pause

Vought wrote on social media that the funds was “frozen to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”

This announcement comes after a similar move recently involving New York City, where the director stated that $18 million for public works would be halted, including money for a planned train tunnel under the Hudson River.

Government Stoppage Background

The decision occurs as the national stoppage reaches its third consecutive day, with the US Senate scheduled to conduct a vote later in the day.

In spite of the planned vote in the Senate, there is scant confidence that a resolution is close, as the Democratic party demand a set of medical compromises.

Additional Consequences

Additionally, a growing tally of government departments and personnel are directly blaming opposition leaders for the stoppage.

This political messaging by departments may be a infraction of the Hatch Act, which forbids government workers from conducting partisan political activity.

Furloughed government workers at some offices have been instructed to set out-of-office messages explaining that they are not working because Democrats caused a shutdown.

A far left has chosen to shut down the United States government in the name of reckless spending and obstructionism,” the treasury department’s website reads.

Additionally, alerts over financial harm are not prompting compromise efforts.

An analysis by an economic analyst said that every seven-day period the shutdown lasts will mean a $7bn hit to the US economy.