Judge blocks Trump admin from withholding Gateway funds

A federal judge has permanently barred the Trump administration from withholding federal funding for the multi-billion dollar Gateway Tunnel project, ruling that its attempt to freeze the money last year was unlawful. U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas issued the order on Monday, June 29, 2026, finding the administration's actions "flagrantly" violated federal law.

The ruling ends a months-long legal battle between the federal government and the states of New York and New Jersey over the $16 billion infrastructure project to construct a new rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River. The project aims to replace the aging, 116-year-old North River Tunnel, which is used by hundreds of Amtrak and New Jersey Transit trains carrying over 200,000 daily commuters and is considered a critical link on the Northeast Corridor between Boston and Washington, D.C. Officials have warned that the existing tunnel, damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, is at risk of failure.

Judge Vargas, who was appointed by President Biden, determined that the administration had no legal justification for suspending hundreds of millions of dollars in already-committed federal grants. She wrote that the Department of...