Senate Democrats on the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee have criticized the Trump Administration for pausing $11 billion in Army Corps of Engineers projects in states that did not support President Trump in the 2024 election. The decision, announced by Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought on October 17, 2025, reclassified key infrastructure projects as “lower-priority” in states including California, Illinois, Maryland, New York, Oregon, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Colorado.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Ranking Member of the EPW Committee, led Democratic members in sending a letter to Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle. The letter condemned what they described as partisan interference with Army Corps funding and called on Telle to protect the agency’s work from political influence.
“This shortsighted attempt to strongarm Democratic lawmakers implodes longstanding foundations of unbiased decision making in the execution of the Corps’ civil works program, threatens to undermine the bipartisan support necessary to advance the Water Resources Development Act, and ultimately will hurt red and blue states alike,” wrote the EPW Committee Democrats.
The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which Congress is scheduled to address next year, authorizes civil works studies and projects carried out by the Corps. Since 2014 it has been passed every two years with bipartisan support. According to committee members, politicizing funding could jeopardize this tradition.
“[P]laying partisan political games with funding for Corps projects will erode longstanding, bipartisan support for the Water Resources Development Act and compromise the Senate’s ability to pass the bill. The Administration will have to answer to Republican lawmakers and the President’s voters when, for example, Tennessee’s Chickamauga Lock replacement cannot be completed because Congress has not raised the maximum project cost limit,” warned Senators.
OMB talking points indicate that project prioritization may be shifted based not on objective criteria but rather on political considerations. While immediate impacts would be felt most acutely in targeted states—where projects include navigation improvements at major ports such as Long Beach; New York and New Jersey; and Baltimore—the economic effects could extend nationwide due to these ports’ role in trade.
“The projects under review ... include navigation improvements to support two of the top three busiest container ports in the United States, as well as a major hub for the import and export of automobiles and specialized machinery used and produced by Midwest manufacturers,” wrote Senators. “The adverse effects of withdrawing funding for navigation improvements at the Ports of Long Beach, New York and New Jersey, and Baltimore will reverberate far beyond local economies... consumers, farmers, and manufacturers across the nation rely on global trade through these ports to flourish.”
Senator Whitehouse previously criticized what he called politicization within federal agencies: “[t]he American people deserve a President not a mob boss.”
In their letter addressed directly to Assistant Secretary Telle—and included in full text—the Senators urged defense against politically biased decisions within Army Corps operations.
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