Kim has no word on gateway status
Trump made vague threat October 15 [2025] that project is terminated
By: Colleen Wilson
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... "Complete and utter silence" - that's what Senator Andy Kim said he has received in response to multiple inquires to the U.S. Department of Transpiration and the White House about whether the $16 billion Gateway rail tunnel program has been terminated by President Donald Trump.
.....
"It's actually very upsetting," Kim a New Jersey Democrat, said on a Zoom call with reporters and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, mayors, local officials and union leaders on October 22. [2025] He said he wouldn't be surprised if officials at the Department of Transpiration "don't have any idea of what the president meant by what he said, and if that's the case we would need some clarity ASPA."
..... Trump made a vague threat October 15 [2025] that "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 terminate." Trump was referring to Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, whom Trump has retaliated against multiple times in his first and second terms by using the Gateway tunnel program as a bargaining chip.
..... That comment came weeks after the U.S. Department of Transportation decided to pause reimbursements on the project so a review could take place to determine weighter its "disadvantaged business enterprise" program was "unconstitutional." The program is mandated by the federal government for projects that receive federal funds.
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That review was announced as the federal government shut down October 1 [2025] amid congressional infighting and was widely seen as a retaliatory measure, given that the Gateway program has been under construction since 2023 and has bipartisan support, including from U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a New Jersey resident.
..... "We are prepared to take other steps as needed, and we;ll consider legal action if needed," Kim said, acknowledging that it isn't the option he prefers, because it would likely delay the project.
..... Mike Hellstrom, vice president and eastern regional manager of the Laborers; International union of North America, said workers feel like they're "following he bouncing ball."
..... "The level of uncertainty - whether it's delayed by the review or it's now terminated - is really unfair and its really, in our opinion, just not an 'America First' agenda," Hallstorom said. "Going to work every day and trying to figure out 'will I have a job tomorrow?' is just an extra, added weight that workers shouldn't be carrying with them."
..... Five
out of the 10 projects within the $16 billion tunnel program are already under construction. combined the projects will build a new two-track tunnel under the Hudson River between North Jersey and New York, and then repair the 115-year-old tunnel damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
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The old tunnel routinely causes delays to NJ Transit and Amtrak trains that use it on the busiest stretch of passenger rail in North America.
GOP mayor: Gateway transcends politics
..... Jason Cilento, a Republican mayor from Dunellen, said the project and its impact transcend politics.
..... It's important that we get clarity form the administration for all of us mayors on the ground, defending our Main Streets and representing our constituents," Cilento said.
..... "The Gateway tunnel and the [Raritan Valley Line] getting a direct line has really been - for years - why we've been developing around our train stations and brining back our Main Streets."
..... The first phase of the Gateway program, which is underway, would not guarantee peak-hour one-seat rides into Manhattan for Raritan Valley Line commuters, a concept that has been advocated for for years. NJ Transit restored RVL one-seat rides into Manhattan in 2019 during off-peak hours in midday.
..... But the Gateway program does add tracks in case a project known as the Hunter Flyover is one day built that would carry Raritan Valley Line trains over the Northeast Corridor tracks so it could continue to the Hudson River tunnels and end in New York Penn Station.
No promising talks over shutdown
..... Asked where negotiations in Congress stand and whether reopening the government is imminent, Kim said there hasn't been much in the way of promising conversations since the first week or so of the shutdown.
..... "It's very hard to negotiate when people are not even in the room, let alone in the building or the town," Kim said, referring to the U.S. House of Representatives not being in session for four weeks. The biggest sticking point is disagreement over whether the 24 million Americans who buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act should continue to receive tax breaks.
..... Kim is worried about the president's departure in a few days for a lengthy trip to Asia and how that will affect negotiations to reopen the government. Schumer and U.S. Representative Hakeem Jeffiries, both New York Democrats and minority leaders of the two chambers, asked to meet with the president before his trip, but Trump said he would do so only "If they let the country open."
..... "We should be focused on getting our own house in order before the president goes around the world," Kim said.