NJ, NY sue Trump to force release of $205M Gateway Tunnel funds

💲1,000 jobs and nearly $1B in investments hang in the balance

💲$205M frozen as shutdown politics collide with NJ’s biggest transit project

💲A lawsuit seeks to release already approved funds suspended by President Trump

New Jersey and New York took the Trump administration to court Monday, filing a breach-of-contract lawsuit aimed at unlocking federal money frozen for the Gateway Tunnel project.

The lawsuit, filed by the Gateway Development Commission, seeks the immediate release of $205 million that Congress already approved but the federal government has refused to pay.

The GDC is the public authority formed by New Jersey and New York to oversee the construction of the new tunnel and the rehabilitation of the 106-year-old North River Tunnel used by 200,000 daily commuters.

A spending package approved by the House on Tuesday afternoon includes $700 million in funding for the Gateway project but it does not solve the immediate problem of keeping the project going long-term.

Lawsuit claims president lacks authority to halt funding

The GDC argues the funding freeze is illegal and politically motivated, saying the president does not have the authority to block money Congress specifically designated for the project.

President Donald Trump terminated the funding at the start of the October government shutdown, and federal agencies later suspended payments, effectively stalling progress on the tunnel.

The GDC said at its Jan. 27 board meeting that all available sources and credit have been exhausted.  The lawsuit seeks to release the funds that have already been approved.

Gov. Sherrill: This is about law, not politics

"This lawsuit simply says this money has legally been designated by Congress for this project and should be put towards this project, and that the President does not have the legal right to hold it up, as he is doing just for political reasons," Gov. Mikey Sherrill told CBS New York on Tuesday morning. "He has pointed to no reason why this money should not continue to flow as Congress directed for this project."

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Gateway Tunnel project seen as critical to economy

U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., called it one of the most important projects in the country.

"Our national economy would struggle tremendously if we don't follow through on this," he said. "We're talking about 1,000 jobs right out of the gate when it comes to construction. Thousands more in terms of support. This is the equivalent of just shooting ourselves in the foot as a country. It's important for us to just leave the politics out of this. This can't be caught up just because President Trump has a grudge with Democrats."

Democrats in the New Jersey and New York congressional delegations appealed to Trump to release the funds. In a Jan. 28 letter, they said the funds had been stopped ostensibly to allow for a review to ensure compliance with the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise, which the US Department of Transportation said was completed on Dec. 8.

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