NEW YORK (WABC) — Officials in New Jersey and New York will have to wait a few more days to receive the stalled $205 million in funding for the Gateway Tunnel project.
During a court conference on Friday afternoon, lawyers representing the Department of Transit said that the funds are being approved but will likely take through the holiday weekend to reach the states.
“The DOT has done everything it can to process those requests,” Department of Justice lawyer Tara Schwartz said.
Judge Jeannette Vargas ordered the Trump administration to provide a status update by 3 p.m. on Tuesday about the funds.
While attorneys for New York and New Jersey voiced frustration with the slow process, Judge Vargas noted that the Trump administration appears to be in compliance, as she ordered only that the funding be unfrozen, not that it be provided by a certain date.
“My order simply says to invalidate the suspension. It doesn’t order that all past reimbursements are due by Monday,” she said.
According to government attorneys, at least $30 million had already been approved and is being processed by the Treasury, while the remaining funds are working through the system.
New York Gov. Hochul and Senator Chuck Schumer both confirmed that $30 million in funding has been released, but still demanded that full funding be restored now.
“My message to the Trump Administration is simple: Enough with the chaos and delays. Get people back to work,” Hochul said. “Today we made progress. $30 million has finally been released, and a court-ordered report will force transparency on the remaining funds. But the job isn’t done. Full funding must be restored now.”
“We eagerly await the rest of the money to be sent as quickly as possible so construction can resume,” Senator Schumer said.
Meanwhile, the Gateway Development Commission released a statement Friday saying they are “grateful to New York and New Jersey for their support in restoring our access to the federal funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project.”
The developments Friday afternoon come after pressuring from officials in New York and New Jersey for the Trump administration to resume funding for the project.
New York State Attorney General Letitia had requested a federal judge schedule an emergency conference Friday afternoon to ensure the Trump administration is “taking all steps necessary to comply with the Court’s TRO.”
“It is now well into business hours today, February 13, and there is no sign of a wire transfer of any money, much less the over $200 million the Government asserted was ready to be disbursed at 1 p.m. on Monday in its filings earlier this week,” she said in a court filing Friday afternoon. “Communications with Defendants’ counsel have not produced any clear assurances of timing.”
She argued that the Trump administration has “deliberately delayed” the reimbursement by canceling an earlier request that could have ensured the flow of money would resume.
Earlier in the day, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill also spoke out on the Trump administration’s attempt to withhold money from the project.
Sherrill was joined by the forces of labor Friday calling on the Trump administration to restore funding. The 1,000 union workers left the job last Friday and have no idea when they are going to return.
Labor leaders say the shutdown is beginning to impact family finances as rents, mortgages, health care and other fiscal obligations are now in jeopardy.
The $16 billion has already been approved and authorized by Congress, which is in charge of the nation’s purse strings.
Sherrill says Trump does not care about the families are suffering.
“As we just saw some of the worst jobs numbers outside a recession in over 20 years, the idea that the president would harm about 1,000 more jobs, and not just that, but put at risk the jobs of the almost 200,000 commuters a day that take this tunnel, we just saw horrible delays this week alone because of the old infrastructure,” Sherrill said.
The Gateway Tunnel project carries an estimated $16 billion price tag, with more than $1 billion of work already underway.
The project is widely viewed as essential infrastructure because it adds two new rail tubes under the Hudson River, a key safeguard against major disruptions to regional rail travel.
The states are expected back in court on Feb. 23 as the federal government appeals the ruling.
A second lawsuit filed by the Gateway commission in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has oral arguments scheduled for March 12.
It is possible the government will not restore funding until then.
Meanwhile, New Jersey transit will move ahead to a significant phase of the Portal Bridge replacement project. Starting this weekend, the train service for Amtrak and New Jersey Transit will be reduced to test the ride over the new Portal Bridge. This process will take a month to complete.
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