Chicago Construction News staff writer
The Chicago Transit Authority has secured a temporary legal victory after a federal court ordered the resumption of funding for two major rail projects, ruling that a months-long payment suspension was impermissible.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted the CTA a temporary restraining order (TRO), directing federal agencies to restore funding for the Red Line Extension (RLE) and Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) projects.
“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. 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.
“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. 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 describing the vindictive motivations behind the illegal recission of these funds, Trump said explicitly he would slash what he called Democrat programs,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said in a statement. “Today’s ruling is a victory not just for Chicago, but for every local government across our country who has been caught in the crosshairs of Trump’s punitive attempts to take resources away from working families and punish communities who did not vote for him.”
The CTA filed a lawsuit last Friday against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Transit Administration, seeking to end the funding pause and regain access to federal dollars supporting both projects.
The payment suspension, which began in October, had threatened to halt construction progress. Without court intervention, the agency said it would have been forced to stop work on both projects this week.
“Today, the CTA secured a major victory for the Red Line Extension and the residents of Chicago’s Far South Side,” CTA Acting President Nora Leerhsen said in a statement. “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.”
Leerhsen said the Red Line Extension would expand transit access and opportunity for generations and that the agency remains committed to completing the work.
Under the court order, funding payments must resume unless the federal government obtains a stay of the TRO.
