In October, during the federal government shutdown, President Trump said he was terminating funding for the Congress-approved $16 billion Gateway Tunnel Project, which includes building a new Hudson River tunnel and rehabilitating the old one to create four tracks, significantly increasing capacity for New York City commuters.
Note: The project received federal commitments including $6.88 billion in grant money under the Infrastructure Law signed by President Biden.
Democrats like the future New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill used Trump’s “petty revenge” on Democratic-led states and “attack on commuters and the economy” as fuel in her campaign against Trump-endorsed GOP candidate Jack Ciattarelli.
This week, MAGA-aligned Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) is taking credit — along with fellow New York House Republicans Mike Lawler, Andrew Garbarino, Nicole Malliotakis, Nick LaLota, Nick Langworthy — “for working together to ensure that funding for the Gateway Tunnel was included in the final Appropriations package.”
Some key NY appropriations wins :
NY House Republicans worked together to ensure that funding for the Gateway Tunnel was included in the final Appropriations package.
It is very important that the funding be released to ensure this important project stays on track.…
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) January 21, 2026
How long the funding for the project will stay in the Appropriations package remains to be seen. Last week, Trump threatened to freeze all federal funding to blue states and “sanctuary cities” beginning February 1. When asked what kind of funding would be affected on February 1, the President replied, “You’ll see. It’ll be significant.”
Note: Stefanik, who was initially nominated by Trump for the job of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and then asked to keep her congressional seat instead, recently pulled out of the 2026 New York gubernatorial race and said she would not seek re-election to her House seat this year. Lawler, who also decided to opt-out of a gubernatorial run against incumbent Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, is running for re-election in his heavily commuter populated district.