As Democrats keep the government shut down in an attempt to restore taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens, President Donald Trump and his administration are using the opportunity to end partisan left-wing projects receiving federal funding. The President had promised to use a shutdown to stop funding such projects and shrink the size of the federal bureaucracy.
As of Monday, the administration has either paused or cancelled $28 billion in federal funding.
The largest action taken so far occurred on October 1, when the Department of Transportation (DOT) paused $18 billion designated for two significant New York City projects – expanding the Hudson River tunnel and expanding the Second Avenue Subway. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought explained in a post on X that the administration is taking this action to “ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles.”
As DOT explained, the Big Apple projects “are arguably the largest infrastructure initiatives in the Western Hemisphere, and the American people want to see them completed quickly and efficiently.” But evidence has emerged that “the contracts awarded are inconsistent with civil rights laws and the Constitution because they were given based on racist DEI.”
The administration has also terminated an additional $7.5 billion for 223 green-energy projects in 16 states. “Nearly $8 billion in Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left’s climate agenda is being cancelled,” Vought stated in a post on X. Affected states include California, Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and New York.
Trump explained on Truth Social last week that he was meeting with Vought on Friday to discuss additional cuts that can be made.
“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” the President said. “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity.”
On Friday, Vought announced $2.1 billion “in Chicago infrastructure projects – specifically the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project – have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”
In a statement, DOT explained that “Illinois, like New York, is well known to promote race- and sex-based contracting and other racial preferences as a public policy.” The agency added that “these critical reviews are intended to ensure no additional federal dollars go towards discriminatory, illegal, and wasteful contracting practices.”
During a press briefing at the start of the shutdown, Vice President JD Vance explained that the Trump administration will begin to terminate federal workers if Democrats continue to block legislation to open back up the government.
“We are going to have to lay some people off if the shutdown continues,” Vance said. “We don’t like that. We don’t necessarily want to do it. But we’re going to do what we must to keep the American people’s essential services continuing to run.”
The House has passed legislation to reopen the government, but a majority of Democrats in the Senate continue to block the bill. The legislation needs 60 votes to pass the Senate.
As a price for reopening the government, Senate Democrats are demanding that Republicans repeal provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill passed earlier this year banning taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens and implementing Medicaid reforms, including a modest work requirement of 20 hours per week for able-bodied adults.
So far, three Senate Democrats have broken with Schumer and voted to reopen the government. At least five more will need to cross the aisle to break the 60-vote threshold.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
I actually read the Project 2025…968 pages, as I recall. Extremely well written by various people who are now part of the Trump administration. You can download it for free, then read the chapters that interest you the most. well written and each chapter has an extensive bibliography of sources. Every citizen should read this, regardless of party. It contains eye-opening historical facts and well thought out reasoning for why conservatives are now able to turn this country around. My only complaint so far is that Russ Vought’s office wasn’t ready on Day 1 with firings and permanent layoffs. Funny how Biden/whoever was running the government grew the federal government 40% without congressional approval yet Trump keeps getting sued for trying to go back to a pre-pandemic level. This is a historic chance to fire a LOT of federal employees and accomplish what would normally require Congressional action. The smart fed employees took the buyout. DO IT!!!!
Thats what i voted for! Thank you President Trump????????????????
The DIEHARDS will never learn. Hopefully in the near future. the voters will take the necessary action.
I’m sure the OMB won’t have any problem finding enough wasteful projects to cut/eliminate. Hopefully permanently too. Can’t wait to see the liberal crocodile tears when the “projects being cut” are identified and MSM has a meltdown too.
Wonderful news all Americans want our tax dollars spent wisely, not on D.E.I scams initiated by the CORRUPT Marxist Democrats
DJT keeps coming at those Dumbocrats with very inventive ways to go along with their “keep it closed” votes for Americans!!! But, in the same respect, we have seen some real eye openers as well. School lefty administrators who are “illegally living in the US” and holding down $300,000 a year jobs for the DEI past presidents, linking millions to billions of dollars going OUT OF GOVERNMENT MONEY for countries all over the world to literally benefit NO ONE except the politicians receiving kickback money and the heads of other countries making themselves very rich. It is almost a joke what has been going on in the US government under Clinton, Obama and Biden.
As an American Voter who already could assume this was going on behind the scenes all along, seeing it actually coming to light with the lies, theft, power-hungry federal workers with high government positions lowering themselves to sell out America to justify their party is criminal. I am just praying that each of them gets their own “just punishment” as a citizen of this country and not as a past or present politically active person in government. NOW maybe the voters will start taking action to reduce the years that anyone can serve in congress or in the house or the supreme court so that these things will not be repeated over and over again by criminals voted into office.
All of these “paid protesters” are being subsidized by government money stolen by left wing presidents and secretary of state with organized groups making the trips possible and all the paraphernalia that is given to these idiots to go out into the streets making a scene. We have seen it on the campuses of upper class colleges and now we see it in every day news. Need fast money right away? Sign up with “protesters anonymous” and make up to $500 a day–no education required, just attitude will do!!!!!!
The democrats tried to destroy Trump and Bankrupt America by refusing to sign a clean CR and thereby shut the Gov down. They want to add more spending to the budget to destroy this country. Under the guise of helping the illegals. Who are most important to these progressives especially Schumer, 180 degrees from what he thought 20 years ago. Which includes Hillary Clinton. Now the democrats are bent on destroying president Trump. Which is only a smoke screen what they are really after is destroying the country. Under Autopen, 12 senators were surveyed, there phone calls monitored. If they did that to senators what did they do to us ordinary citizens. How many were arrested. Like the Jan 6 victims who were thrown into jail for nothing more than being in the crowd at the Capitol. But the 275 undercover FBI agents were not mentioned till the current FBI director found out about them. Why is it when the current FBI looks into what was going on under Autopen they find that necessary actions. And they call us Nazis. Their actions are communists policies. They are seeing an enemy in every citizen who had a different political view from theirs. They are against anyone who believes in a higher being. Charlie Kirk is an example of that thinking. They couldn’t shut him up so they killed him. They couldn’t get Trump convicted so they tried to kill him. And they still are at it. The democrats have created a Them America and an enemy America. Listen to Pritzker, mayor Johnson, Newsom or any democrats how they really feel about a GOP affiliate. Just ask Jones of Virginia what he wants to do with a Republican and his family included. We never hear from the left when a young woman or girl is killed by an illegal criminal. Hell they danced in the street when Charlie Kirk was killed. Shutting down the Gov is the easiest job they could do with not a care in the world. You saw the argument Schumer made. It was about what Trump had to do not what the dems should do for the good of the country and its people. Because the left doesn’t care about the people nor the country.
Hooray for our President and all who want to resume our government.
So I have to say ( My Opinion) that the Federal government officials and hourly workers have enjoyed the highest salary and hourly wages along with extremely great Healthcare, dental and vision benefits.
Also,last but not least they have every known holiday on the calendar paid off, while WeThe People “middle-class” workers have struggled to meet our daily, monthly and yearly bills even thru job loss etc.
Welcome to our reality!
I am so grateful that we have President Trump. He has saved our country from the jaws of Marxism and the demise of our Constitution. Each day I pray that he will remain healthy and safe from the evil that is out there trying to bring him down.
Fire Deadwood employees not already cut loose prior
Good for him. This shutdown plays right into Trump’s plan.
If we have taken in over $20 Trillion in tariffs, how much will be used to pay down the national debt? I agree with giving some to farmers who are loosing sales due to the tariffs, but some needs to pay down the debt.
It used to be both Republicans and Democrats would split their voting based on how a bill meets the needs of their constituent. It’s been years since the Dems didn’t vote lockstep like the ignorant sheep they are. Time to vote them out for malfeasance in office.
Doesn’t it feel GREAT to see President Trump using a play out of the liberal playbook? DJT isn’t letting a good crisis go to waste!!!! MAGA!!!!!
I think the Dems may soon be feeling “buyers’ remorse!” This “shutdown” is a heaven-sent opportunity for President Trump to get rid of a lot of “deadwood”, and continue to downsize the bloated gov’t agencies, monies that are being wasted on illegals, and for ICE to continue to round up all the illegals and deport them. THANK YOU, PRESIDENT TRUMP! (And thank you, Congressional Democrats who created this incredible opportunity to continue fixing our great USA”! “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive”.Genesis 50:20.
In the 1980s, I worked in a procurement organization in a major US Corporation. Affirmative Action was in full swing; it was the DEI of yesteryear. Blacks, Browns, and Women received many promotions that were not merit-based. We knew it, and they knew it.
It spilled over into supplier selection, called MWBE (Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises). We had to replace long-time suppliers with these race and sex-based ones. Sometimes we had to train them in business processes and procedures. In most cases, we had to pay more for the product and service and got poorer service. It finally stopped at some point, returned to merit, and cost-based selection.
REM: Civil Rights Acts were passed in the mid-late 1960s. Minorities (Black, Brown) have many more options for grants for colleges than others. It has been 60 years, and disparities persist. Asians and Whites tend to graduate at higher rates from K-12, and continue to college and advanced degrees. Yet, Democrats see discrimination-caused disparities that require intervention, while conservatives view disparities as cultural.
This continuing DemoKKKRAT intransigence make this an excellent time to significantly whittle down the Deep State Federal bureaucracy! IMO the ENTIRE Federal Civil Service contingent could be cut by 50 to 75%, jobs automated, departments eliminated, programs cut and no one would notice except DemoKKKRATS who depend on their votes to stay in power. A two-fer!
Keep government shut down until it can be decreased significantly. No social programs should be provided tax dollars from the Federal Government.
Seven days in and not a single layoff. This would be the perfect opportunity to shutter the department of education, but crickets. We’re being played.
All one has to do is to look at how using DEI contractors waste money is to see what the cost of the Obama library or the short rail line in California has grown to. They give out these contracts to their cronies or mega donors and see what happens? The greed is too much. Good for President Trump making sure this practice stops. Too much graft has occurred, and continues to occur About time our tax dollars are spent wisely, instead of being thrown away to supporting graft and other countries.
Article V was the solution until USA currency became invisible
All I can say is whe you turn on a light in the dark the rats scatter!
I love it! It is the classic cliche. While the Dems are playing checkers, President Trump is playing chess. He is always MORE THAN ONE step ahead of the swamp creatures. If he hadn’t been elected President, I fear we would have completely lost our country. As it is, we need to support his efforts in every way possible if we want to get back to the type of country we have know in decades gone by.
God Bless AMAC cruise to Alaska. No real estate sold from the owner of this Alaska cruise.
Oh, I thought only five people total had to crossover, not five more in addition to the three that already have! This could take awhile!