Could Trump executive order hold up money for NJ Transit projects, Gateway tunnel?

USA Today

27-01-2025

One of President Donald Trump's day-one executive orders has already caused chaos and confusion — and could jeopardize billions of dollars in New Jersey transportation projects.
The order, in part, aims to stop funding 'Green New Deal' projects and specifically calls for a pause on two grant programs, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, which help fund electric vehicle infrastructure projects, such as charging stations.
But the order also more broadly says 'all agencies shall immediately pause the disbursement of funds' appropriated through two other acts, the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — a far more sweeping, and potentially illegal, action, some experts say.
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'The president is bound to enforce the law. That's part of the fundamental oaths you take when you become president," said Kevin DeGood, senior director of infrastructure and housing policy for the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning think tank. "He's also obligated to spend money that Congress appropriates. Absent that, you have a king.'
There are billions of dollars authorized to be spent through the inflation reduction and infrastructure acts across the country on thousands of big and small projects — repairing highways, fixing bridges, buying new trains and buses, and building sidewalks.
On any given day, the federal Highway Trust Fund reimburses project sponsors about $218 million, while about $52.6 million is reimbursed daily for mass transit projects, DeGood said.
Money for new rail cars, zero-emission buses at NJ Transit
In New Jersey, these laws authorized spending on the purchase of new zero-emission buses at NJ Transit and badly needed railcars to replace the old ones that are frequently breaking down.
The laws are also partly funding the largest infrastructure project in the country, the $16 billion program to build a new two-track rail tunnel under the Hudson River for Amtrak and NJ Transit riders.
Trump's executive order is pretty close to an impoundment order, which is illegal under the Impoundment Control Act, said Andrew Rudalevige, a government professor at Bowdoin College.
That 1974 law does allow the executive branch to pause federal spending with a letter to Congress, but it can't be paused indefinitely unless Congress approves the rescission of funds, Rudalevige said.
In the near term there could be concerns about the effect on large-scale projects, and in the long term there are questions about checks and balances, Rudalevige said.
How can Congress "pass spending bills if they don't know that the president is going to live up to his end of the bargain?' Rudalevige said. 'This is a big question about how Congress can use its own constitutional powers.'
NJ transportation agencies wading through the confusion
The effect of Trump's executive order has already been felt across local, state and federal agencies.
The Federal Highway Administration last week temporarily shut down its computer system that reimburses agencies and municipalities for authorized projects. The Office of Management and Budget sent out a notice to clarify what programs are subject to the pause and directed agency heads to 'disburse funds as they deem necessary after consulting with the Office of Management and Budget.'
"The U.S. Department of Transportation is complying with President Trump's executive orders and revised guidance from the Office of Management and Budget," said a department spokesperson, who declined to answer emailed questions. The OMB did not respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, transportation agencies in New Jersey are scrambling to figure out whether they have already been affected by the FHWA shut down and whether the executive order will affect active projects.
Most agencies have so far interpreted the executive order and clarification from the OMB as applying only to grants related to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, but nothing is certain.
Steve Schapiro, a spokesman for the New Jersey Transportation Department, declined to say whether the agency has had trouble getting reimbursed for projects so far or what projects could be at risk, but said the agency is 'aware that the FHWA is working through the executive orders and awaiting its guidance.'
Melissa Hayes, a spokeswoman for the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, said it was awaiting guidance, but was under the impression that the executive order affects only the two programs related to electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
Steve Sigmund, a spokesman for the Gateway Development Commission, which is building the new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson, said it doesn't anticipate any delays to that mega project.
'GDC appreciates the Office of Management and Budget clarification that the order is not intended to impact nuts-and-bolts infrastructure projects like the Hudson Tunnel Project. We will work collaboratively with our federal partners to ensure we deliver the most urgent infrastructure project in the nation,' Sigmund said.
On Thursday, Jim Smith, an NJ Transit spokesman, said the agency hadn't encountered any issues in the last 48 hours but was evaluating the executive order to determine what effects it may have on NJ Transit projects and programs.
If money is not forthcoming, the recourse for agencies is getting Congress to pressure the president to spend the authorized money or to suing the administration, Rudalevige said.
Congestion pricing
Trump has also vowed to end New York's congestion pricing plan, a tolling program to reduce congestion in Manhattan below 60th Street that received federal approval and launched earlier this month.
So far, there have been no attempts at the federal level to end or pause the program, but many in the region are waiting to see if it will happen — and how such an attempt would be made.
Gov. Phil Murphy wrote a letter to Trump asking the president to take a closer look at the tolling plan, which Murphy said 'has never been well-designed or adequately studied.'
So far, a federal judge has largely disagreed with Murphy and his legal team's argument that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 4,000-page environmental review was inadequate, but the governor reiterated that he is still hoping for a lengthier federal review.
'The Biden administration … did not do what is called an environmental impact study, which takes longer but is more comprehensive,' Murphy told reporters last week. 'We're asking the Trump administration to do what the Biden administration did not do.'
Murphy said last Tuesday that he has not yet received a response.
Kate Slevin, executive vice president of the Regional Plan Association, which has advocated for congestion pricing for at least a decade, said the program so far has withstood potential legal challenges.
'It's been successful in reducing traffic as planned. It was authorized under state and federal law, and has been authorized under the federal Value Pricing Program agreement, which has benefited other states,' Slevin said. The MTA "really followed the process and abided by the law, and thus far that is what the outcomes of the legal challenges have shown.'
Yonah Freemark, principal research associate on fair housing, land use and transportation practice area for the Urban Institute, said anything is possible with the Trump administration.
'It would not surprise me if they try to mount a barrier to congestion pricing,' Freemark said. 'If that stands up in court is another question.'