The Second Avenue subway expansion has been planned for a century. Federal authorities suddenly withheld funding from what President Trump called a “Democratic project.”
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NEW YORK – New York officials are suing the administration over the sudden withholding of federal funding for a century-old subway expansion project after President Donald Trump said he was freezing “Democratic projects.”
In a lawsuit filed March 17, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the U.S. Department of Transportation has withheld $58 million contracted under federal law to help complete the $7 billion Manhattan Second Avenue Subway Extension. Almost half of the total cost of the 1.76-mile extension will be paid for in federal dollars.
“We all know that the Trump administration is withholding funding from infrastructure projects in New York,” MTA Chairman and CEO Jano Lieber said at a New York City Council hearing. “We’re going to get every penny of what we’ve been promised.”
The MTA’s 46-page lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., said the federal government has not honored its grant agreement for the second phase of the project, which would extend the Q train to Manhattan’s East Harlem neighborhood.
In October, the federal government suspended funding for the Second Avenue subway and Gateway tunnel projects over issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which the president said was due to political battles with Congressional Democrats. The March 17 lawsuit comes after New York and New Jersey officials successfully sued the Department of Transportation to recover more than $200 million in funds withheld for the Gateway Tunnel, a rail expansion project below the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan.
Department of Transportation spokeswoman Danna Almeida said in a statement that the agency is “committed to ensuring that hardworking taxpayers’ money is spent responsibly. We are considering all legal options.”
The White House referred to the Department of Transportation’s comments. The Justice Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Democrats claim Trump is using infrastructure funding as a ‘bargaining chip’
Trump, a former New York real estate mogul who calls himself the “Building President,” said he froze infrastructure funding for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) during the 2025 federal government shutdown. According to the complaint, President Trump told Fox News he would “stop” the Gateway Tunnel project and said he would stop “Democratic projects” including Manhattan in an attack on Schumer.
Schumer said in a March 17 X post that East Harlem has been waiting more than a century for a subway. “These projects are not political bargaining chips; they are the lifeblood of New York’s economy and union members,” he said.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said the subway expansion is on schedule and on budget, but the funding cut puts that at risk.
“We told Donald Trump that if he did not restore funding to this project, we would see him in court,” she said in a statement. “Today, we are doing just that.”
Under the bipartisan Federal Infrastructure Act of 2021, the Biden administration has committed more than $3.4 billion under the Capital Investment Grant Program to the Second Avenue Subway project.
The administration withheld the funds on the first day of the federal government shutdown in the fall.
In an Oct. 1 post, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said funding for the Second Avenue Subway and Gateway Tunnel projects is being held up over New York City’s Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program, an equity initiative aimed at expanding participation in federally aided contracts.
Vought said the hold is “to ensure that no funds flow based on unconstitutional DEI principles.”
Subway plans shelved due to Great Depression
The expansion has been planned since at least the 1920s, but was first shelved during the Great Depression, according to the complaint. The second phase is expected to be completed by September 2032, according to the MTA.
“DOT’s actions impeded the MTA’s ability to rely on federal funds for the timely completion of the Second Avenue subway and undermined the MTA’s reasonable expectations of the outcome of the agreement,” the complaint states.
Lieber told City Council members that the moratorium has not caused any delays yet, but that the MTA plans to award contracts worth about $1 billion for excavation. The project’s progress may be in jeopardy as compensation has not been returned by the federal government.
“We need to know that funding is available,” Lieber said. “That’s why we had to take this action.”
Gateway tunnel workers resumed construction in late February. The Gateway Tunnel is the largest infrastructure project in the country.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Contact us via email (emcuevas1@usatoday.com) or Signal (emcuevas.01).
