Construction on the $16 billion Gateway Tunnel Project remained paused Monday morning despite a federal judge temporarily blocking the freezing of funds by the Trump administration.
A temporary restraining order was issued Friday evening to prevent the shutdown, and a legal battle is playing out while workers try to figure out if they’re going to be back on the job or not.
The U.S. Department of Transportation asked for a stay of the temporary restraining order while it appeals.
“Unless this court’s order is stayed by 1 p.m. today, the government will be forced to disburse up to $200 million, without any obvious mechanism for recovering that money if the government prevails on appeal. That is irreparable injury,” the government said in its filing.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill was set to give an update on Gateway Monday morning.
A hearing is set for Wednesday to determine steps after the temporary restraining order. Meanwhile, however, the workers were still not back on the job Monday morning since the money to pay them still hasn’t been disbursed.
1,000 jobs lost already, Gateway backers say
The pause in construction, which took place Friday at 5 p.m., immediately cost 1,000 jobs, and an extended pause would jeopardize 11,000 construction jobs and an estimated 95,000 additional jobs related to the project, according to the Gateway Development Commission.
“For more than two years, the hardworking men and women building the Hudson Tunnel Project have not missed a day of work. That will change today, because the federal Administration continues to withhold funding for this vital investment in our nation’s rail infrastructure. After spending more than $1 billion and countless hours of hard work on this project, we will be left with empty construction sites in New York and New Jersey,” GDC CEO Tom Prendergast said Friday.
New York Attorney General Letitia James hailed Friday’s ruling against the Trump administration as a “critical victory.”
“This is a critical victory for workers and commuters in New York and New Jersey. I am grateful the court acted quickly to block this senseless funding freeze, which threatened to derail a project our entire region depends on. The Hudson Tunnel Project is one of the most important infrastructure projects in the nation, and we will keep fighting to ensure construction can continue without unnecessary federal interference,” James said in a statement.
Most of the money for construction of the new tunnel underneath the Hudson River is funded by federal grants. The GDC said it and the federal government have been “legally bound” by the terms of the grants since July 2024, when full funding for them was secured. The GDC says despite being contractually committed, the federal government stopped releasing the funds last October. The GDC has since sued the federal government to release the funds.
“Plainly illegal” decision to freeze funds, Sherrill says
“This ruling is a victory for the thousands of union workers who will build Gateway and the hundreds of thousands of riders who rely on it every day. We will work to protect this decision and move as soon as possible to get work back on track,” N.Y. Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday.
“President Trump’s arbitrary and politically motivated decision to freeze this funding is plainly illegal, and we will continue to pursue full relief so the nation’s most urgent transportation project can keep moving forward — and workers can keep putting food on the table,” Sherrill said Friday.
After President Trump abruptly froze federal funding for the project in October, both the GDC and the states of New York and New Jersey sued to permanently free up the congressionally-approved funds.
Sources familiar with the Gateway Project funding discussions in Washington told CBS News New York’s political reporter Marcia Kramer the president demanded naming rights of Penn Station in New York and Dulles Airport in Washington, D.C., in exchange for freeing up the funding.