Vice Ranking Member Sykes, Ranking Member Larsen Lead T&I Democrats Letter to Secretary Duffy on Trump Infrastructure Funding Freeze
Washington, D.C. — On Wednesday, January 29, Vice Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Emilia Sykes (OH-13) and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Rick Larsen (WA-02), and the remaining 29 Democratic Committee Members sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in response to President Trump’s Executive Orders halting the funding of important infrastructure investments.
The letter reads:
“The President’s rapid-fire Executive Orders (EO) issued last week affecting infrastructure spending rules and air traffic controller staffing, doubled down on with this week’s guidance from the Office of Management and Budget pausing all federal financial assistance, are putting billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of jobs, and tens of thousands of projects at risk,” the Members wrote. “These actions are sowing chaos in an industry that counts on long-term certainty and will raise project costs.”
“Unfortunately, the actions in the first week of this Administration show a fundamental miscalculation of the bipartisan support infrastructure investment enjoys in Congress and how much governors, mayors, county commissioners, city councilmembers, and state legislators across the country count on federal infrastructure dollars,” the Members continued.
The members also urged Secretary Duffy to stem the chaotic effect of President Trump’s actions by:
- Providing clear guidance on DOT’s planned actions to implement the President’s objectives with respect to infrastructure spending and eligibilities;
- Making publicly available, on DOT’s website, an up-to-date list of all grants subject to or under review pursuant to these EOs;
- Communicating to Congress in advance of changes to grant solicitations or grant requirements, including reissuance of Notices of Funding Opportunity; and
- Providing clarity to project sponsors on how to demonstrate compliance with the longstanding and routinely reauthorized DOT Disadvantaged Business Enterprise.
To read the full letter, click here.