NY’s Outsized Role in Washington’s Shutdown Battle

Amid a government shutdown fight that highlights disagreements between New York-born President Donald Trump and two Democratic leaders from New York in Congress, the Empire State has found itself in the spotlight.

After Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., denied Republicans his party’s votes necessary to pass a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open, the White House froze funding for subway infrastructure projects in New York City.

“Roughly $18 billion in New York City infrastructure projects have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing based on unconstitutional [diversity, equity, and inclusion] principles,” wrote Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought on the social media platform X on the first day of the shutdown. Vought has the authority to determine which programs are essential during a shutdown.

Schumer was furious at the news, telling reporters shortly after voting for a second time against funding the government that Vought “is using New Yorkers and New Jerseyites as pawns, and it’s a disgusting thing, and it shows how little regard Vought and [President Donald] Trump have for working families.”

Republicans have responded to criticism of the shutdown by placing blame on Democrats, who they say forced a situation where Vought has to eliminate some spending after Democrats voted down a seven-week funding extension.

“Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do, and it’s because the Democrats have put us into this position,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday, when asked about Vought’s measures, adding:

If the Democrats did not vote to shut down the government, we would not be standing up here talking about layoffs today.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., has similarly stood by the administration, saying Thursday morning, “As you know, whomever is seated in the chair at OMB during the shutdown has to do the same thing,” and that Vought “has to sit down and decide, because he’s in charge of that office—which policies, personnel, and which programs are essential, and which are not.”

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who represents a swing-district in the lower Hudson Valley that favored Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, however, has urged the administration to go easy on the Empire State.

“Congressman Lawler strongly opposes these harmful cuts, which undermine, amongst other things, our counterterrorism efforts and critical infrastructure projects in New York,” his spokesman, Nate Soule, said in a statement. “Congressman Lawler has been in active discussions with the White House since Tuesday morning to reverse both of these decisions and fully restore the funding.”

Rep. Nick LaLota, a Republican representing a western Long Island district, shamed New York Democrats for not supporting the House’s funding extension in a statement to The Daily Signal.

“With 31,000 federal employees on Long Island, Reps. [Tom] Suozzi and [Laura] Gillen must answer for why they risked pay for our troops, support for air traffic controllers, and [Veterans Affairs] operations when they voted against the House’s clean bill containing Biden-era, status-quo funding.”

Suozzi and Gillen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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