Bid to end shutdown fails

4/10/2025 6:02

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration froze $2.1 billion in Chicago transit funding on Friday, starving another Democratic city of funds as a bid to end the government shutdown failed again in the Senate.



On the shutdown's third day, Trump ramped up pressure on Democrats to end the standoff and agree to a Republican plan that would restore government funding.



But that failed in a 54-44 Senate vote, short of the chamber's 60-vote standard.



The administration has now frozen at least $28 billion in funding for Democratic cities and states, escalating Trump's campaign to use the extraordinary power of the U.S. government to punish political rivals.



Budget director Russ Vought said the Chicago money, earmarked for elevated train lines, had been put on hold to ensure it was not "flowing via race-based contracting."



Trump has made Chicago, the nation's third-largest city, a regular rhetorical punching bag and has threatened to send in National Guard troops.



Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a high-profile Trump critic seen as a possible 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, said the funding freeze amounted to hostage-taking.