New York and New Jersey have filed lawsuits against the Donald Trump administration over halted funding for a $16 billion Hudson River tunnel. This was reported by Reuters.
In October 2025, US President Donald Trump said he had terminated the project, and the Department of Transportation refused to release any funding for the project, approved during the administration of President Joe Biden, which is a key element of rail transport between New York and New Jersey.
The case in US District Court in Manhattan, filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James and acting New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, follows a lawsuit filed by the Gateway Development Commission, which said it would halt construction this week without securing funding, which would put about 1,000 workers out of work.
The lawsuit by the two states states that the funding was stopped due to "Trump's desire to punish his political rivals". Last month, the White House said Democrats were "blocking a deal on the Gateway Tunnel project by refusing to negotiate with the Trump administration.
Any damage to the existing Hudson Tunnel, built in 1910 and badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, would hamper commutes in the metropolitan area, which produces 10% of the country's economic output and is used by more than 200,000 passengers and 425 trains daily.
Nearly $2 billion has been spent on the project. The initiative, which has received about $15 billion in federal support, involves repairing an existing tunnel and building a new one for Amtrak passenger rail and the state's commuter rail between New Jersey and Manhattan, and is the largest infrastructure project in the United States.
In December, the U.S. Department of Transportation accused Gateway of violating the law in its "Disadvantaged Business Enterprises" program, which helps small businesses run by "socially and economically disadvantaged individuals." Gateway told the USDOT that the program complies with federal law.