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Donald Trump’s campaign of vengeance The fight against Democratic officials and political enemies appears to have extended to the congressional districts represented by some of his sharpest critics.
Trump administration, under the guise of government shutdown That money has been pulled overwhelmingly from Democratic-held districts, leading to billions of dollars in federal funding being canceled.
Nearly $28 billion of federal funding has been withheld or canceled from Democratic districts, according to a review by the new York TimesBy comparison, the administration took away about $738 million from Republican districts.
But a large portion of the funding freeze targets Democratic-led states, including GOP-held districts in those states. Only two grants out of more than 200 were withdrawn from Republican-held districts in Republican-led states.
Those funds, which were often the result of years of debate among lawmakers before their approval, were unilaterally blocked by the White House because the administration wanted to punish Democratic members of Congress for the impasse that led to the shutdown. key legal questions About Trump’s ongoing strategy of getting around Congress to take control of taxpayer money.
Most of those funds were supposed to support critical transportation infrastructure projects as well as upgrades to the electrical grid and clean energy projects, most of which were in Democratic strongholds in New York, California and Illinois.
Administration officials have argued that the decision to block the grants is consistent with the president’s war against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, but they have implicitly linked the timing of those cuts to the shutdown, for which they explicitly blame Democrats.
Trump has called the shutdown an “unprecedented opportunity” to make the cuts permanent.
On the first day of the shutdown, White House Budget Director Russell Vought announced that approximately $18 billion for New York City infrastructure projects was being frozen “to ensure that funding does not flow based on unconstitutional DEI principles.” It includes a dozen grants worth more than $17 billion to Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman’s district, which spans parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The Department of Transportation also said that the shutdown would “take longer to review New York’s unconstitutional practices”. The blockade targets the $16 billion Hudson River Tunnel project, a major rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan. The disbursement of $300 million of financing for New York’s Second Avenue Subway project was immediately halted.
“Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress are playing politics with the government shutdown, and New York’s economy and hard-working families are paying the price,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement at the time. “These cuts directly impact local businesses and major companies, throwing workers out of jobs, closing factories and slowing our state’s economic progress. New York Republicans must be strong, stand with our workers and demand that President Trump restore this funding.”
Another $2.1 billion for Chicago transit upgrades was also blocked, along with nearly $3 billion from across California.
Two days after the shutdown, the administration announced it was pulling $7.6 billion in previously approved grants for dozens of energy-related projects in 16 states — 14 of which are led by Democrats.
Trump, who has repeatedly said his administration would use the shutdown to defund “Democratic programs,” told reporters Tuesday that his administration apparently wants to “shut down” projects that “we never wanted to happen.”
He said, “Democrats are getting killed on the shutdown because we’re shutting down programs that are Democrat programs that we were opposing.” “In many cases they will never come back.”
Additionally, he said he would abandon “Republican programs.”
After his administration faced legal challenges over cuts to the federal workforce by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, the White House has implemented the shutdown, not only furloughing thousands of employees but permanently eliminating their positions.
More than 4,000 federal employees were told they would be laid off because of the shutdown, although hundreds of them had their notices rescinded. After the administration “erroneously” fired key staff at the country’s public health agency.
The moves are designed to pressure Democrats to effectively capitulate to GOP demands to end the shutdown, though Democrats have opposed a budget measure that fails to extend soon-to-expire federal health subsidies.
“Their intimidation tactics are not working and will continue to fail,” House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said Tuesday.