NJ and NY file lawsuit to have Gateway Tunnel money released
The Trump administration put the funding on hold in September, citing the government shutdown.
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Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York have teamed up to file a lawsuit in order to get $15 billion in federal money released for the Hudson River Tunnel project.
The target of the lawsuit is President Donald Trump and the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In October, the president stopped funding from being released during the government shutdown.
If the construction to build two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River is stopped, 1,000 workers at five sites in New York, New Jersey and on the river will lose jobs on Friday.
A total of $1 billion has already been spent on construction.
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The project is needed to replace the current railroad tunnels, which are over 100 years old.
The lawsuit claims that no valid reason has been offered for holding up the funding which was approved by Congress.
"Canceling the funding is arbitrary, it's capricious and it's illegal,” said Gov. Sherrill.
Acting New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport weighed in, saying the president’s actions are illegal.
“It reflects an unlawful effort by the president to punish political rivals by holding up this critical project. He publicly announced that Gateway is terminated because the Democrats are so foolish and added there is no funding because it’s up to me. That should offend every American and it ’s pretty hard to hear if you’re scheduled to lose your job this weekend,” said Davenport.
The lawsuit seeks action before Friday's deadline.
News 12 reached out to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about the situation. The secretary declined to comment.
