U.S. Freezes $2.1B Chicago Transit Funding Over Race‑Based Contracting

The Trump administration has frozen $2.1 billion in federal funding for Chicago Transit Authority projects — the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization program — saying the pause is to ensure federal grants are not flowing via race- and sex‑based contracting or other DEI-driven preferences. The Department of Transportation issued an interim final rule barring race- and sex‑based contracting requirements and sent letters placing the CTA projects under administrative review to determine whether any “unconstitutional practices” are occurring. The action follows a similar freeze of roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects and is part of broader funding moves aimed at Democratic-led cities during the federal government shutdown. Democrats have decried the pauses as politically motivated and warned they could delay jobs and critical transit improvements, while the administration says the reviews are intended to prevent discriminatory, illegal, and wasteful contracting. Officials warned that shutdown-related furloughs could slow the reviews and that legal challenges are likely if funding delays become substantive.