Judge orders Trump administration to resume Gateway funding
Credit: Gateway Development Commission
A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to resume funding for the Gateway project, finding that the president illegally blocked federal support for the critical rail link between New York and New Jersey. The order, issued Friday by Manhattan Judge Jeannette Vargas, follows a lawsuit filed by New York and New Jersey seeking emergency relief to stop the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) from withholding funds for the project. The administration filed an appeal against the decision on Sunday.
In a statement, Gov. Kathy Hochul celebrated the ruling, calling it a “victory” for the thousands of workers and riders who will benefit from the project.
“Today, a judge affirmed what we’ve said from the start: our case against the Trump administration is likely to succeed, and Donald Trump’s attempt to rip away funding and derail the Gateway Tunnel project is likely to be found unlawful,” Hochul said on Friday.
“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.”
In her ruling, Vargas wrote that the “plaintiffs had adequately shown that public interest would be harmed by a delay in a critical infrastructure project,” as reported by Gothamist. The states argued that they filed the lawsuit because halting the project would “kill thousands of jobs” and “imperil” the commutes of New Yorkers and New Jerseyans.
Vargas’ ruling marks another chapter in the contentious legal battle over Gateway, one of the nation’s largest infrastructure projects. The initiative includes the Hudson Tunnel Project, which will build a new two-tube tunnel beneath the Hudson River and rehabilitate the century-old tunnels that connect NY and NJ.
Federal funding for the project stopped flowing in October during the government shutdown and was never resumed despite a previous $12 billion commitment made under the Biden administration, as 6sqft previously reported.
Most work at the site had stopped last Friday, immediately eliminating roughly 1,000 construction jobs.
Trump initially paused the funds pending a review of the project’s contracts for compliance with new rules governing women- and minority-owned businesses. Catherine Rinaldi, executive vice president of the Gateway Development Commission (GDC), told the New York Times that the contracts had been “appropriately certified,” though funding was never restored.
In January, the Times reported that the administration offered another explanation for the continued funding delay, blaming Sen. Chuck Schumer, one of the project’s biggest supporters, and other Democrats for refusing to negotiate and citing their positions on immigration.
Last week, it was reported that Trump last month told Schumer that he’d resume funding for Gateway only if New York’s Penn Station and Washington’s Dulles International Airport were renamed after him. Schumer declined.
Construction on the project began in November 2023, with tunnel boring slated to start this summer. In August, the GDC announced that two massive tunnel-boring machines are scheduled to arrive in early 2026 to excavate the 2.4-mile connection to Penn Station, with one already on site, according to the Times.
In response to Vargas’ order, the Trump administration argued that the case should not have been heard in Manhattan, saying it belonged instead in federal claims court in Washington, D.C. That is where the GDC’s separate breach-of-contract lawsuit against the government is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday, according to Gothamist.
On Sunday, the Trump administration filed a notice asking the Second Circuit federal appeals court to pause Friday’s ruling, as reported by the Daily News.
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