Trump administration freezes $26b for Democratic states

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump's administration on Wednesday froze $26 billion for Democratic-led states on the first day of a federal government shutdown, which Trump called a "good" chance to cut "things that we didn't want."

Russell Vought, the White House budget director, said about $8 billion in "Green New Scam funding to fuel the Left's climate agenda" is being cut, hitting 16 states, most of which are led by Democrats.

Meanwhile, the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) halted $18 billion for infrastructure projects in New York, where the Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have been frequently targeted by Trump, The New York Times said in a Wednesday report.

The department blamed Schumer and Jeffries for the fund cut. "Thanks to the Chuck Schumer and Hakeem shutdown, however, USDOT's review of New York's unconstitutional practices will take more time," it said in a statement.

"Without a budget, the department has been forced to furlough the civil rights staff responsible for conducting this review," it said.

Schumer said the Trump administration is using the government shutdown to "blackmail" Democratic states. "He is using the American people as pawns, threatening pain on the country as blackmail," he said.

The US Senate on Wednesday failed to approve a short-term spending bill, as the federal government entered its first shutdown in nearly seven years.

"A lot of good can come down from shutdowns," Trump said Tuesday. "We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn't want."

Reuters reported Thursday that some 750,000 federal workers were ordered not to work, while others began to work without pay.