Democratic Lawmakers Press Administration on Stalled CIG and Cancelled Transportation Projects

Democratic leaders are pressing USDOT, FTA, and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to explain delays in advancing Capital Investment Grant (CIG) projects and the termination or rescission of certain USDOT infrastructure grants. These two concerns were raised separately in an August 11 letter sent to OMB Director Russell Vought and FTA Acting Deputy Administrator Matthew Cahill and in an August 12 letter sent to USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy.

In the August 11 letter, members of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee said OMB and FTA have not advanced several projects into the CIG Engineering phase, including the Boston Green Line Transformation project and the Los Angeles Southeast Gateway Line. The letter notes that FTA recently moved Utah’s FrontRunner 2X project into Engineering.

The lawmakers said the projects have completed FTA’s rating process and received overall ratings that qualified them to advance. They said there is more than $1.9 billion in unobligated and unallocated CIG funds available to support projects, as well as annual congressional appropriations for the program.

Further, the letter states that there have been no new CIG agreements signed since the Administration took office. The lawmakers request that the Administration immediately advance the Boston and Los Angeles projects and approve 11 projects in 10 states that are seeking Full Funding or Small Starts Grant Agreements this year.

The letter states that the delays “are economically short-sighted. Transit is an excellent investment. Every $1 invested in transit generates $5 in long-term economic value. Conversely, failing to deliver on long-promised transit investment carries serious economic consequences.”

In the August 12 letter, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee democrats, led by Ranking Member Rick Larsen (D-WA), express concern with the Administration’s “admission that agencies withheld or rescinded funding from select grant recipients for purely political reasons.” The letter lists several projects that have been stalled, rescinded, or cancelled that they believe reflect unfair administration of the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law by USDOT.

The lawmakers are requesting additional details on all grants terminated, rescinded, or stalled by USDOT since January 20, 2025.