Army Corps of Engineers halts $11B in projects, weighs canceling them

[Army Corp model of Mississippi flood plain in downtown Vicksburg]
Peter Blottman Photography/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will immediately pause over $11B in projects and consider canceling them on account of the ongoing government shutdown, the White House's budget chief Russell Vought has announced.

"The Democrat shutdown has drained the Army Corps of Engineers' ability to manage billions of dollars in projects," he posted on X on Friday. "The Corps will be immediately pausing over $11B in lower-priority projects and considering them for cancellation, including projects in New York, San Francisco, Boston, and Baltimore."

The USACE is the Army's military engineering branch that provides public and military engineering services. It employs 37,000 civilian and military personnel.

A spokesperson for the Office of Management and Budget told [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/17/white-house-pauses-new-round-of-largely-blue-state-projects-00613875] _Politico _that many of the impacted projects are in sanctuary cities, adding that "taxpayer dollars should not be subsidizing infrastructure in states led by governors ignoring federal law."

Notably, projects in New York account for $7B of the $11B announced.

During the government shutdown, the Trump administration has frozen around $26B in funding [https://seekingalpha.com/news/4501159-white-house-halts-funding-infrastructure-climate-projects] for infrastructure and climate-related projects. It also paused $2.1B in Chicago transit funding.

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