Director Vought, one of the chief architects of Project 2025, later added that the roughly $18 billion freeze would apply to the Hudson Tunnel Project and the Second Avenue Subway project. “Hours before the shutdown on Tuesday, Trump had threatened that he could ‘get rid of a lot of things’ that would prominently affect Democrats,” NBC News reported. Reuters’ David Shepardson reported that the hold on the “mega” infrastructure projects includes a refusal to “process reimbursements, pending review that it says is impacted because of the government shut down.”Critics blasted the move. “Trump Republicans are so cruel and incompetent that they’re now playing games with billions in funding for critical infrastructure projects, putting the literal foundations of our city at risk. This is extortion, plain and simple,” wrote New York Democratic State Senator Andrew Gounardes.