The candidates vying to be New Jersey’s next governor are pointing fingers after the Trump administration announced it is freezing billions of dollars in federal funding for two infrastructure projects, including the Hudson Tunnel project to connect New Jersey and New York City.
Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill slammed the move Wednesday and called the pause in funding further evidence that her opponent, Republican Jack Ciattarelli, would not stand up to President Donald Trump. Ciattarelli’s campaign placed the blame on Sherrill for opposing the GOP-led government funding measure, which passed the House last month but stalled in the Senate amid Democratic opposition.
The funding freeze for the tunnel project comes with just a few weeks until the November election to succeed Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who cannot run for re-election because of term limits.
After the federal government shut down Wednesday, with Congress failing to reach a funding agreement, White House budget director Russell Vought announced the administration would pause the funding for the Hudson Tunnel Project and the Second Avenue Subway, “to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles.” The Transportation Department said on X that the delay was “another casualty of radical Democrats’ reckless decision to hold the federal government hostage to give illegal immigrants benefits.” (U.S. law prohibits federal health care benefits for undocumented immigrants.)
Sherrill often speaks about her work to secure funding for the project, also known as the Gateway Hudson Tunnel Project, saying in a recent gubernatorial debate that she was once dubbed the “tunnel-obsessed congresswoman.”
“I first ran on a promise to build the Gateway Tunnel, and I delivered,” she said in a statement.
Sherrill pledged to “fight tooth and nail to complete this essential infrastructure project for New Jersey. Jack Ciattarelli will not. He’s refused to name a single area where he disagrees with Trump and has already said he would never sue the Trump administration. He will choose Trump over New Jersey every time.”
“Make no mistake: When I’m governor, I will see them in court and deliver Gateway for New Jersey,” she said.
Ciattarelli has said that, if he is elected, his administration would not sue the White House, calling such lawsuits “a waste of taxpayer dollars.” Ciattarelli did break with Trump in opposing the administration’s plan to house immigrant detainees at a New Jersey military base.
Ciattarelli campaign strategist Chris Russell responded to the freeze in funding by blaming Sherrill.
“If Mikie Sherrill did her job as a congresswoman we wouldn’t be in this mess,” Russell said in a statement to NBC News. “Sherrill hasn’t bothered to show up for work in the House more than 90% of the time this year — and now she’s opposing a bipartisan plan to continue funding the government to play politics instead. Make no mistake, Mikie Sherrill owns this shutdown and is responsible for any negative impacts on Gateway tunnel project and other NJ priorities.”
Sherrill joined all but one House Democrat in opposing a GOP plan to temporarily extend government funding, as Democrats have demanded that Republicans act to extend Obamacare subsidies to obtain their party’s votes.
Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey, who joined all but three Democrats in the Senate in voting down the GOP funding plan, called the administration’s announcement “illegal.” Kim said he believes the proposal will “backfire when the American people see how partisan this is and how much it’s about retribution.”
Asked which candidate in the key governor’s race the move would hurt the most, Kim replied: “It’s going to hurt New Jersey. And if Jack says there’s nothing he disagrees with Trump on, he owns the delays to Gateway.”
“I think [Trump] really locked in that loss for Republicans in the governor’s race,” Kim told reporters Wednesday.
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