Trump Threatens Funding for Chicago, Portland in Shutdown Fight

The White House announced Friday it was withholding more than $2 billion for transportation projects in Chicago and examining ways to reduce federal funding to Portland, Oregon, the latest bid to use the shutdown to target political opponents in Democratic strongholds.

White House budget director Russell Vought said in a post on X early Friday that “$2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects — specifically the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project — have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”

Separately, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Donald Trump “has directed his team here at the White House to begin reviewing aid that can potentially be cut in Portland” amid protests in the city over the deployment of federal immigration officers.

A CTA Red Line train in 2023.

Photographer: E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Getty Images

The president has threatened to use the government shutdown to fire thousands of federal workers and cut programs that he says Democrats like. The Chicago announcement comes as the shutdown enters its third day with Democrats and Republicans in a standoff over renewing federal funding.

Trump has also been stepping up immigration enforcement in Chicago, sparking protests and drawing repeated rebukes from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker. Trump has intensified attacks on Pritzker as the Democrat has led opposition to White House policies and as speculation grows that he is readying a potential presidential run in 2028.

“At a time when federal agents are sowing chaos in Chicago, the Trump administration is holding bipartisan funding hostage,” Pritzker said in a tweet. “It’s attempting to score political points but is instead hurting our economy and the hardworking people who rely on public transit to get to work or school.”

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson assailed Trump for halting the transit funding even as the administration has outlined a $20 billion swap line to support crisis-prone Argentina. Johnson said the Red Line extension in the city’s South Side would bring jobs and spark economic development.

“Argentina gets $20 billion and the South Side gets nothing,” he said in a tweet. “What happened to America First?”

Since the shutdown began earlier this week, Vought has already suspended $18 billion in New York infrastructure funding and $8 billion for clean energy projects in Democratic states.

“These critical reviews are intended to ensure no additional federal dollars go towards discriminatory, illegal and wasteful contracting practices,” the US Transportation Department said in a statement about the New York and Chicago projects.

Portland Deployment

Trump last weekend ordered troops to Portland, describing the city as war-ravaged and in need of federal intervention. The administration notified Oregon’s governor that 200 members of the state’s National Guard were being federalized in order to protect Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers operating in the city from left-wing demonstrators.

The idea has received broad pushback from local officials, saying the deployment is unnecessary and counterproductive. A federal judge is weighing a request Friday for a temporary restraining order blocking the move.

Chicago Focus

Chicago has consistently been another focal point for Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to send National Guard troops to crack down on what he has cast as out-of-control crime and violence in the heavily Democratic city.

The Chicago area has been struggling to find revenue to keep trains and buses running without service cuts.

The Red Line Extension, first proposed in 1969, would serve Chicago’s predominantly Black far South Side — a historically disenfranchised area with no existing rail line on the CTA’s system. The project secured a $1.97 billion grant from the Federal Transit Administration in January 2025 and is slated to finish construction in 2031.

The extension “is how we reverse decades of disinvestment on the South Side of Chicago that will ultimately strengthen our entire city,” Johnson said at the announcement of the federal funding in January, shortly before Trump took office. “We will see returns on this investment in the form of safe, vibrant and equitable communities.”

The Red and Purple Modernization initiative includes building a new bypass structure, rebuilding several stations and installing a modern signal system.

Far from Chicago, several transit agencies in other Democratic-leaning cities are in the midst of building rail extension programs that could be at risk.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, officials are seeking about $4.6 billion in federal funds for the more than $12 billion Silicon Valley Phase II extension to San Jose and Santa Clara. In Los Angeles, the $9.5 billion Purple Line subway extension to Westwood has secured three grants totaling more than $3.5 billion in federal aid.

Shutdown Wrangling

As the shutdown continues, the White House is also looking to fire “thousands” of federal workers. Vought and Trump met on Thursday to discuss federal job cuts. An announcement on their plans could come as soon as Friday.

“If they keep the government closed it will get more and more painful,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told reporters on Thursday. The White House is “going to look to the administration’s priorities and make sure they are funded,” he added.

The Senate is slated to vote again Friday on a House-passed temporary spending bill but that measure is not expected to pass. Senators are unlikely to hold votes over the weekend, which would push the shutdown into next week.

--With assistance from Danielle Moran, Miranda Davis and Justin Sink.

To contact the reporters on this story:
John Harney in Washington at jharney2@bloomberg.net;
Jamie Tarabay in Washington at jtarabay2@bloomberg.net;
Sri Taylor in New York at staylor383@bloomberg.net;
Shruti Date Singh in Chicago at ssingh28@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Laura Davison at ldavison4@bloomberg.net

Brendan Case, Jordan Fabian

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