CTA Sues Trump Administration Over $2 Billion in Pulled Funding for Red Line Extension, Other Improvement Projects

Blair Paddock | March 20, 2026, 3:40 pm

A Red Line train is pictured in a file photo. (WTTW News)

The Chicago Transit Authority is suing the federal government over the withholding of $2 billion in funding for the ongoing Red Line Extension and Red & Purple Line Modernization Projects.

On Friday, the CTA filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration seeking an immediate restoration of the funds for the two projects.

“Defendants’ unlawful actions cause CTA irreparable harm in spades,” the lawsuit states. “Work on CTA’s crucial infrastructure projects is set to grind to a halt unless this Court provides relief.”

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If funding is not properly restored, CTA said they will be forced to stop work on both projects.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Duffy, we will fight to ensure federal dollars do not go towards discriminatory, illegal, and wasteful contracting practices," a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation said in statement. "The American people don’t care what race or gender construction workers, pipefitters, or electricians are. They just want these important projects built quickly and efficiently.”

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, came amid a border 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.

“We are fully committed to the success of these projects, and we will take every step necessary to ensure that they move forward,” CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen said in a statement. “The Red Line Extension is an historic investment into the Far South Side of Chicago that will transform public transit and create new economic opportunity for the communities it will serve.”