The Trump administration yesterday won a reprieve from a federal judge's order that required the U.S. Department of Transportation to release funding for the $16 billion Hudson Tunnel project.

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas on Monday issued a temporary stay on her Feb. 6 decision ordering the government to resume disbursement of previously awarded grant and loan funds for the project. The government, which suspended the funding in October 2025, is appealing her initial order.

The Gateway Development Commission, the project's manager,

shut down construction

on Feb. 6 because the federal government owes more than $200 million in disbursements. About 1,000 workers were laid off because of the construction pause, commission officials have said.

The project calls for construction of new and rehabilitation of old passenger-rail tunnel tubes that run under the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey.

The Trump administration has

reportedly indicated

the funding stream would be restored if U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) would back renaming New York Penn Station and Washington Dulles International Airport after President Donald Trump. Schumer has long been an advocate of the Hudson Tunnel project.

The Gateway Commission, New York and New Jersey officials have sued the federal government for halting the project's federal funding. Gateway Commission CEO Thomas Prendergast has said the longer the project is delayed, the more expensive it will become.

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