NEW JERSEY (WABC) — The Gateway Development Commission is suing the federal government for cutting off funding for the Hudson River Tunnel, a move that could suspend construction by the end of the week.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Washington on Monday night, alleges the U.S. Department of Transportation breached its contractual obligations by withholding more than $205 million without any legal basis, claiming the funds were cut to punish Democrats over last fall’s government shutdown.
President Trump said in October that he had terminated the project, and without additional funding, the Gateway Development Commission warned it will be unable to continue work on the $16 billion project after Friday. That could leave about 1,000 union workers without jobs.
In the lawsuit, the commission said that without federal funding this week, it will be unable to pay contractors to continue construction activities, causing work on the critical project to grind to a halt. The filing warns this would leave unfinished work sites with massive holes in the ground, threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of construction employees, burden the commission with enormous costs from delays and penalties, and put the future viability of the project into question.
The tunnel project would build two new rail tubes under the Hudson River and is widely seen as critical to avoiding future disruptions in rail travel.
White House spokesperson Kush Desai last week tied the tunnel funding to an ongoing dispute over immigration enforcement, saying, “It’s Chuck Schumer and Democrats who are standing in the way of a deal for the Gateway Tunnel Project by refusing to negotiate with the Trump administration. There is nothing stopping Democrats from prioritizing the interests of Americans over illegal aliens and getting this project back on track.”
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