Two weeks ago, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought announced a pause of $11 billion in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers funding. So far, though, the list of projects targeted is a mystery, prompting some people on Capitol Hill and in state governments to ask: Where’s the list?
Congressional aides from both sides of the aisle say their lawmakers have yet to receive any more details on the impacted projects, other than scant descriptions Vought provided on the social media site X that the freeze would hit some “low-priority” projects in “New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Baltimore.”
One staff member described it as “radio silence” from the corps and OMB. According to another aide, there was no finalized list when the announcement happened, and the administration was still coming up with one after Vought’s announcement.
Spokespeople from the offices of Democratic Govs. Maura Healey of Massachusetts and Wes Moore of Maryland also confirmed they have not received any information about pauses in corps project funding in their states.
Vought blamed the partial government shutdown for the funding pause, saying it had “drained the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to manage billions of dollars in projects.” He added in the Oct. 17 post on X that the administration would be considering full cancellation of the projects.
Declining to provide further information on the projects, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works said in an Oct. 18 email that the corps may be “unable to provide adequate oversight of all the projects currently in the portfolio,” adding it will “pause and review other projects to see if we can deliver them more efficiently.”
“Once the lapse and review are over, the Administration may consider taking further actions allowable under the law that limit, cancel, or reprioritize resources in a manner that is consistent with these reviews and with the Administration’s stated priorities,” the email said.
The corps has not responded to further requests about the list of projects. OMB has also not responded to a request for comment.
The lack of a list has left some on the Hill wondering if there ever was one and if the announcement was a tactic to turn up the heat on Democrats during shutdown negotiations, one staff member said. Another questioned how Vought landed on the $11 billion estimate and specific project locations without a list.
Democrats have accused the administration of targeting blue states in its shutdown-related funding pauses. Earlier this month, the Transportation Department paused $18 billion in funding for two major transit projects in New York and Chicago on the first day of the shutdown, and the Energy Department halted $8 billion in awards across 16 states with Democrats for senators.
“Donald Trump’s use of the government for political retribution against blue cities and states is not only dangerous and un-American, it’s illegal,” said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif. “Americans should be asking themselves: do we really want to live in a country where if you oppose the party in power, your taxpayer dollars are diverted to benefit only the president’s supporters?”
The government is in its fifth week of a partial shutdown as senators leave Thursday for the weekend and the House remains out of session. Although there were some signs of bipartisan negotiations this week, the odds of it becoming the longest government shutdown are increasing.
Senate Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., and House Energy-Water Appropriations ranking member Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio, on Monday called on the Army Corps of Engineers to unpause funding to all projects.
“The executive branch lacks the authority to unilaterally cancel congressionally authorized and funded projects,” they wrote. “The uncertainty harms local governments, unions, small businesses, and families. It weakens our nation’s resilience against floods and disaster. It places political considerations above public safety. That is unacceptable.”
The post ‘Radio silence’ on list of paused Army Corps projects appeared first on Roll Call.
