Chicago
On Thursday, October 2nd, Russ Vought, the OMB Director and architect of Project 2025, posted on X that $2 billion in Chicago infrastructure funding was put on hold due to alleged “race-based contracting” policies.
Governor JB Pritzker responded that the Trump Administration is “holding bipartisan funding hostage” to score political points. Chicago’s Mayor, Brandon Johnson, lambasted the decision and noted that Argentina is receiving a bailout while federal funding is being cut at home.
Senator Patty Murray (WA) called the cancellation of Illinois’ infrastructure funding “blatant extortion” and as targeting Democratic states simply because they’re the political opposition.
New Jersey and New York
The Trump Administration froze $18 billion in transit funds. This led to Katie Brennan, a candidate for the New Jersey Assembly, proposing that New Jersey consider withholding taxes to stand up for its constituents. In a video posted on Instagram, Ms. Brennan said:
Donald Trump just froze billions of dollars for New Gateway under the Hudson River. Why? To punish New York and New Jersey. Seriously, this is not how the government is supposed to work to state the obvious. These funds were already approved to build a brand new two track tunnel under the Hudson River to connect New Jersey and Manhattan. We desperately need this tunnel. The one we have now was almost destroyed by Hurricane Sandy all the way back in 2012 so we need a new tunnel before we can fix the old one. And if this project is put on hold and the people can’t cross the Hudson to get to work, it will literally destroy our economy. This is just the latest example - there are many - of Trump showing us that he is unfit to lead this country. We pay federal taxes, but then we get a president who sees the US as the enemy and takes away our money as retaliation. It has to stop. We have to show Trump it is not okay. Yes, New Jersey should sue the Trump Administration but we have to do more, we should be withholding federal taxes, dollar for dollar, to backfill any funding that’s illegally cut. And you know what, maybe the state should eminent domain his golf course in Bedminster and we should build some affordable housing there instead. If the government won’t stand up for New Jersey, Trenton should.
What do each of these states have in common? They are all blue and contribute more to the federal government than they receive in return.
President Trump is gleefully targeting blue states using all the might of the federal government, leveraging federal authority to withhold funding. This pattern, as documented by Politico, reflects a deliberate strategy to exert political pressure on political opposition and Democratic-leaning states during the government shutdown.
Leaders are rethinking the deal and standing up to Trump. That’s good for their states and democracy.