(Bloomberg) -- White House Budget Director Russell Vought announced the withholding of more than $2 billion for transportation projects in Chicago, the latest move by the Trump administration to use the shutdown to target political opponents in Democratic strongholds.

Vought said in a post on X early Friday that “$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.”

President Donald Trump has threatened to use the government shutdown to fire thousands of federal workers and cut programs that he says Democrats like. The Chicago announcement comes as the shutdown enters its third day with Democrats and Republicans in a standoff

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