NEW YORK — Federal money is once again flowing to the Hudson Tunnel project, as the Department of Transportation released the first $30 million in overdue funds today (Friday, Feb. 13).
The money is the first portion of more than $200 million which has been withheld by the Trump administration since last October. It was released after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Thursday declined to overrule an earlier ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Jeannette Vargas that required the funds to be released. The news site amNY.com reports the appeals court instead referred the matter to another panel of judges, meaning Vargas’ ruling immediately went into effect.
Vargas ruled last week that the government must release the money while the case is being tried, saying the states had shown they would suffer immediate harm from the shutdown of the tunnel project and that they were likely to win the case on its merits. [see “Judge orders funds released …,” Trains.com, Feb. 7, 2026]. She subsequently stayed that ruling to give the appeals court time to consider the administration’s appeal.
The New York Times reports that administration officials told Vargas they would begin releasing the funds during a hearing today, and the Gateway Development Commission, which oversees the $16 billion tunnel project, confirmed this evening that it had received some money.
“We have received an initial disbursement of $30 million from the federal government and expect to receive the full $205 million in reimbursement funds,” the commission said in a statement. “Construction remains paused for now, and we are working with our contractors to plan how to deploy these funds in the most effective way and get workers back on the job to resume some construction as soon as possible.”
Work on the tunnel halted on Friday, Feb. 6, as the commission said it had exhausted its credit while awaiting money from the Department of Transportation. The federal government had committed to provide 70% of the funds for the project, or about $11 billion, with the states of New York and New Jersey splitting the remaining 30%.
Those states brought the suit that prompted the Vargas ruling. They argued that the Trump administration was illegally withholding the funds as an act of “political retribution” [see “New York, New Jersey sue …,” Trains.com, Feb. 4, 2026]. The Gateway Commission also filed a suit last week, on the grounds the government had breached its contract by not releasing the money in a timely fashion.
“Today we made progress,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement. “$30 million has finally been released, and a court-ordered report will force transparency on the remaining funds. But the job isn’t done. Full funding must be restored now.”
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Will the DOT just dribble out the funds with them not ever enough for the project go full bore??