NEW YORK (WABC) -- Funding for the Gateway Tunnel project is beginning to move again, but New York and New Jersey officials are still waiting on the bulk of the $205 million that had been temporarily stalled.
During a court conference Friday afternoon, attorneys representing the Department of Transportation told the judge that the funds are being approved but may not reach the states until after the holiday weekend due to processing timelines.
"The DOT has done everything it can to process those requests," Department of Justice lawyer Tara Schwartz said.
Judge Jeannette Vargas directed the Trump administration to submit a status report by 3 p.m. Tuesday detailing the progress of the payments.
While attorneys for both states expressed frustration with the pace of the reimbursement, Judge Vargas clarified that her earlier order required the suspension of funding to be invalidated — not that the money be delivered by a specific deadline.
"My order simply says to invalidate the suspension. It doesn't order that all past reimbursements are due by Monday," she said.
Government attorneys indicated that at least $30 million has already been approved and is currently being processed through the Treasury Department. The remaining funds are still advancing through federal payment channels.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and Senator Chuck Schumer confirmed that the first $30 million has been released but insisted that the full amount must follow without further delay.
"My message to the Trump Administration is simple: Enough with the chaos and delays. Get people back to work," Hochul said. "Today we made progress. $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."
"We eagerly await the rest of the money to be sent as quickly as possible so construction can resume," Senator Schumer said.
The Gateway Development Commission also issued a statement Friday expressing appreciation to both states for their efforts to restore access to federal funding tied to the Hudson Tunnel Project.
The renewed movement on funding comes after intensified legal and political pressure from officials in both states.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James had asked a federal judge to hold an emergency conference Friday, arguing there was no visible sign the federal government had followed through on earlier assurances.
"It is now well into business hours today, February 13, and there is no sign of a wire transfer of any money, much less the over $200 million the Government asserted was ready to be disbursed at 1 p.m. on Monday in its filings earlier this week," she said in a court filing Friday afternoon. "Communications with Defendants' counsel have not produced any clear assurances of timing."
She further argued that the administration had "deliberately delayed" reimbursement by canceling a previous request that would have ensured the funding resumed promptly.
Earlier Friday, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill joined labor leaders in calling for the immediate restoration of funds. Roughly 1,000 union workers walked off the job last week amid uncertainty over project financing and have yet to return.
Labor officials warn that the pause is beginning to strain household finances, with workers facing mounting pressure from rent, mortgage payments, healthcare costs and other obligations.
The $16 billion Gateway Tunnel project has already been approved and authorized by Congress, which controls federal spending. More than $1 billion in construction work is currently underway.
Sherrill criticized the administration’s handling of the funding.
"As we just saw some of the worst jobs numbers outside a recession in over 20 years, the idea that the president would harm about 1,000 more jobs, and not just that, but put at risk the jobs of the almost 200,000 commuters a day that take this tunnel, we just saw horrible delays this week alone because of the old infrastructure," Sherrill said.
The Gateway Tunnel project is widely considered one of the most critical infrastructure initiatives in the Northeast. The estimated $16 billion project will construct two new rail tubes beneath the Hudson River, providing redundancy and protection against major service disruptions along one of the nation’s busiest rail corridors.
Transportation experts have long warned that the existing century-old tunnels are vulnerable to breakdowns, storm damage and capacity limitations, all of which could severely disrupt regional commuting between New York and New Jersey.
The states are scheduled to return to court on Feb. 23 as the federal government appeals the earlier ruling. A separate lawsuit filed by the Gateway Development Commission in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims is set for oral arguments on March 12.
There remains a possibility that full funding may not be restored until additional legal proceedings are resolved.
Meanwhile, New Jersey Transit is advancing a key phase of the Portal Bridge replacement project. Beginning this weekend, Amtrak and NJ Transit service will be reduced temporarily to test operations over the new bridge. That testing phase is expected to last about a month, marking another significant milestone in the broader modernization effort.
Originally reported by ABC 7 New York.
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