{"id":121994,"date":"2026-02-03T23:16:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T23:16:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121994\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T23:16:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T23:16:12","slug":"gateway-panel-sues-trump-admin-for-halting-nyc-tunnel-project-to-probe-alleged-racist-dei-contracts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/121994\/","title":{"rendered":"Gateway panel sues Trump admin. for halting NYC tunnel project to probe alleged &#8216;racist DEI&#8217; contracts"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A tri-state-area commission<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/01\/us-news\/18b-in-nyc-infrastructure-funding-on-hold-to-probe-whether-it-was-going-to-illegal-dei-practices-omb\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> is suing the Trump administration<\/a> for cutting off funding to the $16 billion Gateway tunnel project across the Hudson River <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/10\/01\/us-news\/18b-in-nyc-infrastructure-funding-on-hold-to-probe-whether-it-was-going-to-illegal-dei-practices-omb\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">while it probes <\/a>possible \u201cracist DEI\u2019\u2019 contracts.<\/p>\n<p>The Gateway Development Commission filed suit in Washington federal court Monday night alleging that the US Department of Transportation breached both parties\u2019 contract by withholding more than $205 million in funds, which will halt work on the tunnel by Friday.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38376285\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/held-press-conference-u-s-120333356.jpg\" alt=\"A map showing the Gateway Program Overview for rail projects in New York and New Jersey, highlighting the Hudson Tunnel Project and other infrastructure improvements.\" class=\"wp-image-38376285\"  \/>The Hudson River tunnel project is meant to replace aging rail lines damaged by Hurricane Sandy.  Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf additional funding does not become available by February 6, 2026, construction of the [Hudson Tunnel Project] will have to pause, resulting in the loss of nearly 1,000 jobs,\u201d the GDC wrote in a press release.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>President Trump had warned that he would terminate funding for the project \u2014 meant to replace aging rail tunnels damaged by Hurricane Sandy \u2014 at an October press conference.<\/p>\n<p>He claimed the project needed a DEI review, which was being held up at the time by a government shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis administration has concerns that the contracts awarded are inconsistent with civil-rights laws and the constitution because they were given based on racist DEI,\u201d a source told The Post at the time. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThus, a review of contracts awarded under [former President Joe] Biden is required.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But the GDC contends that the Trump administration is contractually obligated to see through its end of the deal, citing a binding agreement signed by the parties in July 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38376277\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2025-new-york-city-president-119229196.jpg\" alt=\"Construction of the Hudson Gateway Tunnel in New York City, with several trains visible in the background.\" class=\"wp-image-38376277\"  \/>The $16 billion project could come to a screeching halt as soon as Friday.   Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>White House rep Kush Desai put out a statement last week to multiple outlets blaming Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other Democrats for the funding freeze.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cThere is nothing stopping Democrats from prioritizing the interests of Americans over illegal aliens and getting this project back on track.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Since Monday\u2019s filing, Schumer, along with New York Dem Gov. Kathy Hochul and fellow Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill and a slew of other tri-state pols, have come out in defense of the GDC.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A tri-state-area commission is suing the Trump administration for cutting off funding to the $16 billion Gateway tunnel&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[17446,153,12480,3376,57,9,56,63,65,64,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-121994","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-dei","9":"tag-donald-trump","10":"tag-gateway-project","11":"tag-hudson-river","12":"tag-metro","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-ny","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-nyc-headlines","17":"tag-nyc-news","18":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}