In a post on X, the White House budget director Russ Vought said the move was to ensure “funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles”.
The announcement followed the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) issuing an interim final rule on Tuesday, barring race- and sex-based contracting requirements from federal grants.
USDOT has issued letters to New York to inform the city the two projects are under administrative review to determine whether any unconstitutional practices are occurring.
“The Department is focusing on these projects because they are arguably the largest infrastructure initiatives in the Western Hemisphere, and the American people want to see them completed quickly and efficiently,” USDOT said in a statement.
“Until USDOT’s quick administrative review is complete, project reimbursements cannot be processed, including a US$300m disbursement for the 2nd Avenue Subway. The remaining federal funding for these projects totals nearly US$18bn.”
The statement added that the review of New York’s “unconstitutional practices” would take time because the government shutdown this week meant staff responsible for conducting the review were on furlough.
“This is another unfortunate casualty of radical Democrats’ reckless decision to hold the federal government hostage to give illegal immigrants benefits,” the USDOT statement said.
