US: WH Pressure Campaign Continues As Vought Announces Chicago Grant Pause

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought announced on X that he is putting “on hold” USD$2.1 billion in federal grants for infrastructure projects in Chicago.

• Vought wrote, $2.1 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects--specifically the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project--have been put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”
• The announcement follows similar funding freezes for Democrat-led cities and states, including New York City, designed to exert pressure on Democrats to back a GOP funding bill to reopen the government.
• MNI Political Risk team noted in today’s US Daily Brief, that Vought’s actions have so far been narrowly directed at federal grant freezes for Democratic states and liberal-leaning government programmes, likely reflecting some Republican anxiety that major cuts to the federal bureaucracy or workforce could blowback on the GOP.
• The US Senate will hold a fourth vote on the Republican and Democratic government funding bills at roughly 13:30 ET 18:30 BST. Both measures will fail again, barring a shock rebellion from Democratic Senators. Following the vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is expected to recess the Senate until Monday, ensuring the government remains closed through the weekend.
• Roughly 60% of Bettors on Polymarket believe the shutdown is likely to last between 10 and 29 days. An additional 19% believe the shutdown will persist longer than a month.