Politics
Federal Judge Orders Government to Temporarily Release Red Line Extension Funds
The CTA’s South Terminal at 95th/Dan Ryan on the Red Line opened in April 2018. A plan to extend the Red Line would connect the terminal to 130th Street. (Chicago Transit Authority / Flickr)
The Trump administration must temporarily unfreeze about $2 billion in federal funds for Chicago Transit Authority projects, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
The order from Judge Thomas M. Durkin, first reported by the Chicago Tribune, granted the CTA’s request for a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Authority. The order comes after a lawsuit filed by the CTA last week challenged the federal government over its withholding of billions in funding for the ongoing Red Line Extension and Red & Purple Line Modernization Projects.
“Today, the CTA secured a major victory for the Red Line Extension (RLE) and the residents of Chicago’s Far South Side. CTA promised the community that it would fight for RLE, and this ruling is a massive step toward restoration of funding for this historic project,” a statement from the transit agency reads. “RLE will provide transit access and opportunity for generations to come, and we are fully committed to seeing it move forward.”
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Authority did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“Today we celebrate yet another victory in the fight to protect federal dollars promised to Chicagoans from being withheld and used to advance Trump’s campaign of retribution," Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. “While we are encouraged by this ruling, I am redoubling my commitment to protect Chicago from this president’s reckless abuse of power and attacks on our city.”
In October 2025, the White House Office of Management and Budget announced a pause of billions of dollars in funding for Chicago infrastructure projects. That freeze, which came despite a full funding agreement executed earlier that year, was announced amid a broader anti-DEI push from the Trump administration.
At the time, federal officials said they’d be examining whether the Red Line Extension involves “race-based contracting” that Trump officials claim are discriminatory.
The decades-in-the-works Red Line Extension would bring stops to Far South Siders at 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue near 116th Street, and 130th Street.
Contact Blair Paddock: @blairpaddock.bsky.social | [email protected]
