The Standing Record

A daily, non-partisan record of US democratic norms — and the events that erode them.

Timeline › 2025 › October › 1

October 1, 2025

2 entries on this date.

OMB Director Vought freezes $18 billion in congressionally-appropriated NYC infrastructure funds, citing pretextual DEI review

On October 1, 2025, the first day of the government shutdown, OMB Director Russell Vought announced a freeze of approximately $18 billion in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds earmarked for two major New York City projects — the Gateway Hudson River Tunnel and the Second Avenue Subway extension — claiming a review was needed to ensure funds were not "flowing based on unconstitutional DEI principles." The freeze blocked reimbursements already owed, including an immediately due $300 million disbursement, and targeted projects in districts represented by Senate and House Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries. Critics and legal experts said the DEI rationale was pretextual and that the Impoundment Control Act prohibits such unilateral executive withholding of appropriated funds.

Trump administration forces 15+ federal agencies to replace employees' out-of-office emails with partisan shutdown messaging without worker consent

On October 1, 2025, the first day of the FY2026 government shutdown, the Trump administration directed more than 15 federal agencies to replace furloughed employees' personal out-of-office email auto-replies with partisan messaging blaming Democratic senators for the shutdown, without employee knowledge or consent. At the Education Department, the deputy chief of staff for operations directly overrode personal messages with text reading "Democrat Senators are blocking passage of H.R. 5371 in the Senate."