Trump administration halts funds for projects in blue cities as Democrats refuse to reopen the government

President Donald Trump’s administration is ramping up the pressure on Democrats who refuse to reopen the government over two weeks into the shutdown.

Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced Friday that he will be pausing over $11 billion of project funding across several blue cities. This pause will halt funds for “lower-priority” projects overseen by the Army Corps of Engineers in New York City, San Francisco, Boston, and Baltimore.

‘We’re only going to cut Democrat programs, I hate to tell you.’

This pause comes more than two weeks into the Democrat-induced government shutdown after nearly a dozen failed votes on the Senate floor.

“The Democrat shutdown has drained the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to manage billions of dollars in projects,” Vought wrote in a post on X. “The Corps will be immediately pausing over $11 billion in lower-priority projects & considering them for cancellation, including projects in New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Baltimore. More information to come from the Army Corps of Engineers.”

RELATED: White House deploys nuclear option amid Democrat-induced shutdown stalemate

Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

This pressure is the latest of several actions taken by the Trump administration since the government shut down on October 1. Ahead of the shutdown, Vought notified agencies to begin drafting reduction-in-force notices that later resulted in over 4,200 layoffs across various prominent agencies.

A Clinton-appointed judge in California has since halted those RIFs.

Vought also previously paused billions of dollars’ worth of infrastructure and environmental projects in other blue cities like Chicago and New York City.

At the same time, the Trump administration is working to minimize shutdown pains for the military, working through Department of War Secretary Pete Hegseth to ensure that service members received their October 15 paycheck.

RELATED: White House dares Democrats with nuclear response to looming shutdown

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Image

Trump previously warned Democrats that his administration would take these actions if they did not join Republicans to reopen the government. Assuming all 53 Republicans vote in favor of the funding resolution, at least seven Democrats need to join the GOP to reopen the government.

“We’re only going to cut Democrat programs, I hate to tell you,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting last week.

“Chuck Schumer proclaimed this morning that every day gets better for them,” Trump added. “No, every day it’s actually getting worse for them, and they’re having a rebellion in the Democrat Party because they want to stop.”

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