New Jersey gubernatorial hopeful Mikie Sherrill bashed President Trump for threatening to “terminate” the long-delayed $16 billion Gateway Tunnel Project under the Hudson River — as Dems refuse to budge on moving a stopgap spending bill forward that would reopen the government.
On Wednesday, Trump declared that critical federal funding for the ambitious infrastructure project — that would replace the decades-old tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey — had been “terminated” as a result of the partial government shutdown.
The Garden State gubernatorial contender lashed out at the president for turning up the pressure, blasting him as “out-of-control.”
“We basically allocated all the federal share in Congress, and so now we see an out-of-control president, just at his whim, saying he’s going to cancel it,” Sherrill fumed during a press conference in Secaucus.
“We are going to stand up and fight for that because you stand up and fight for that, because he should have no path forward for that.”
Shortly after the government entered a partial shutdown, Trump’s team pumped the brakes on funding the mega renovation and expansion project.
Uncle Sam was expected to cover about 70% — $11.7 billion — of the tab, though there is a mix of state and local funding for it as well.
Trump then went further on Wednesday, lashing out at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and declaring the project “terminated.”
“This is not only jobs. I mean the project in Manhattan, the project in New York. It’s billions and billions of dollars that Schumer has worked 20 years to get. It’s terminated. Tell him it’s terminated,” he told reporters.
It’s not fully clear what Trump means by that or whether his team will ultimately unfreeze funding once the federal government reopens again. The president has long been fond of infrastructure projects.
But the frustrated commander in chief’s comments came as Senate Democrats had voted nine times to block a House-passed resolution to fund the government through Nov. 21. They then failed the advance the bill for a 10th time on Thursday.
Despite the House ultimately passing the measure, Sherrill had joined all of her Democratic colleagues in the House, except Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), in voting against it.
Without federal funding, the Gateway Tunnel Project is expected to run out of cash within about 45 days, putting it in jeopardy, according to local officials.
Construction work has been ongoing on at least five sites across New York and New Jersey for the project, to connect the Garden State to Penn Station — the busiest rail passageway in the country.
Existing tunnels are roughly 115 years old and were badly impacted by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Sherrill, meanwhile, also made sure to dig at Republican Jack Ciattarelli and argued that he won’t be a strong negotiator with Trump, who has endorsed him.
“I think if you’re going to work with this President, you have to come from a strong stance of advocating for your state and what you want to see,” she argued.
“My opponent gives up before the negotiations start,” she continued. “I don’t think there’s anything that’s a little more telling about the kind of power Jack Ciattarelli would have with the president than the fact that 19 days until his election, the president’s punching him in the face like this.”
Ciattarelli, by contrast, has faulted the looming Gateway Tunnel Project snarl on the partial government shutdown — something that he blames on Sherrill.
The former New Jersey state General Assembly rep has split with Trump on the freezing of funds for the sprawling tunnel project, however, and vowed to fight to get the funding back.
“New Jersey needs a Governor who has the standing to work with, and when necessary disagree with, the President and advocate for New Jersey’s fair share of federal tax dollars — including the Gateway Tunnel,” Ciattarelli said on X.
“This is a critical infrastructure project and I will fight to get it done.”
