It’s Funding Pause, the Sequel!
MTA Sues Trump Administration
Over Second Avenue Subway Funds
NEW YORK—The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has filed suit against the Trump Administration on Tues., March 17, for withholding federal funding for the ongoing expansion of the Second Avenue subway in Manhattan.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber announced the filing of the litigation on social media. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. Federal Court of Claims, came five months after the president’s Budget Director Russell Vought announced the White House would stop distributing a $3.4-billion grant for the project, The Gothamist reports. Mr. Vought stated the funding would not flow while the feds reviewed the MTA’s practices for issuing contracts to minority- and women-owned businesses.
The project is well underway on the $7.7-billion project, with the MTA already working on utility relocations and purchasing properties that need to be moved for construction.
Mr. Lieber, the MTA boss, said on social media that the project is on budget and in fact has saved taxpayers $1 billion.
Federal funding for the project has been withheld since October 2025. Recently, federal funding resumed for the Gateway Tunnel project after New York State, the Gateway Development Commission sued the federal government, with a judge ordering the Trump Administration to release funding that had been paused.
In a prepared statement, Gov. Hochul said, “We told Donald Trump that if he did not restore the funding for this project, we’d see him in court. Today, we are doing just that. Just like Gateway, Donald Trump has two options: restore the money now, or wait for a judge to force him to.”
Published: March 17, 2026