On October 3, 2025, the Trump administration froze $2.1 billion in federal funding for Chicago transit projects, a move Illinois officials decried as politically motivated hostage-taking that harms the city's economy and its working families.
The frozen funds targeted two major Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) projects: the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project.
The Red Line Extension is a plan to extend the train line 5.5 miles to 130th Street, creating four new stations to serve residents on the city's South Side. This project, in the works for decades, would expand transit access to an estimated 100,000 people. Mayor Brandon Johnson emphasized its significance, stating it is "the single largest investment in the Far South Side in a generation" and was expected to create 25,000 jobs and generate billions in new development. The Red and Purple Modernization Program, meanwhile, aims to reconstruct aging infrastructure on the North Side to provide faster service and modern, ADA-compliant stations.
The administration, through Budget Director Russ Vought and the Department of Transportation (USDOT), justified the freeze as an administrative review to ensure funding was not "flowing via race-based contracting". This came after USDOT issued an interim final rule barring race- and sex-based contracting requirements from federal grants. The department stated its goal was to prevent "discriminatory, illegal, and wasteful contracting practices".
Illinois Democrats uniformly condemned the action as a blatant abuse of power. Governor JB Pritzker accused President Trump of "holding bipartisan funding hostage" to score political points, actions he said were "hurting our economy and the hardworking people who rely on public transit". Senator Dick Durbin argued the freeze was a punitive measure against states that did not vote for Trump. U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky called the action "unconstitutional" and "proof that Donald Trump and Republicans are more interested in petty political retribution".
The move against Chicago is part of a wider administration strategy during the government shutdown. Prior to this, the administration had frozen $18 billion in federal funding for two major infrastructure projects in New York City, including the Gateway Program and the Second Avenue Subway line. Additionally, the Department of Energy terminated nearly $8 billion in funding for climate and energy projects in 16 states, all of which were won by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. In total, the administration has frozen at least $28 billion in funding for Democratic cities and states.
The USDOT stated that the government shutdown has furloughed the civil rights staff responsible for the review, potentially delaying its completion. The department urged Democrats in Congress to end the shutdown so the agency "can get back to the important work of the American people".