U.S. Judge Says Trump Cannot Stop NY/NJ Tunnel Project and Others Based on his Naming….

The argument IS Congress appropriated the money to be spent….

Withholding the money for the $16 Billion project by the President for any captious reason is illegal.   

A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from suspending billions of dollars of funding for a rail tunnel under the Hudson River, pending future arguments in the case.

Construction of the new $16 billion rail tunnel, the biggest transportation infrastructure project in the United States, had come to a halt earlier in the day, four months after the Trump administration suspended its federal funding.

Judge Jeannette A. Vargas of the Southern District of New York ordered the federal government to unlock the billions in federal grants to the program, as the case proceeds through the courts. If the Trump administration complies, the project could soon restart construction.

“Plaintiffs have adequately demonstrated that they would imminently suffer” irreparable harm, Judge Vargas wrote in her 11-page ruling, if the project was “forced to shut down its operations.”

The governors of New York and New Jersey were pleased.

“Today, a judge affirmed what we’ve said from the start: our case against the Trump Administration is likely to succeed, and Donald Trump’s attempt to rip away funding and derail the Gateway Tunnel project is likely to be found unlawful,” said Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York.

Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey concurred: “I am thrilled that the court has granted temporary relief, lifting the freeze of billions of dollars of federal funding for Gateway. President Trump’s arbitrary and politically motivated decision to freeze this funding is plainly illegal, and we will continue to pursue full relief so the nation’s most urgent transportation project can keep moving forward — and workers can keep putting food on the table.”

The project, known as Gateway, centers on a tunnel between New York City and New Jersey that is meant to replace an aging and deteriorating one that often causes train delays and bottlenecks.

Nearly 1,000 people have been working at sites on both sides of the Hudson and in the river, and more than $1 billion has already been spent, according to the project’s planners, the Gateway Development Commission…..

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Elected officials from New York and New Jersey held out hope that the Trump administration would relent before the end of the week. But it was not clear what might mollify the president.

His administration has sought to pressure Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, to help name New York’s Penn Station and Washington Dulles International Airport after Mr. Trump in exchange for releasing the frozen Gateway funding.

Top administration officials have told Mr. Schumer in recent weeks that the money would be released if he agreed to help name the facilities in Mr. Trump’s honor, according to four people familiar with the private conversations. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the private discussions….

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Federal transportation officials had said that the suspension would last until a review of the project’s contracts for compliance with new policies regarding diversity could be completed. Catherine Rinaldi, executive vice president of the commission, said it had responded to all of the transportation department’s requests and that all of its contracts with disadvantaged businesses had been “appropriately certified.”

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The White House gave a different reason for the prolonged suspension in a statement last month, pinning responsibility on Senator Schumer and other Democrats for refusing to negotiate and alluding to their stances on immigration policies…..

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Courtsey DSD @ Politicaldog101