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Savewith a NBCUniversal ProfileCreate your free profile or log in to save this articleOct. 3, 2025, 9:22 AM EDT / Updated Oct. 3, 2025, 9:30 AM EDTBy Rebecca ShabadWASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Friday that it is putting $2.1 billion in funding for Chicago infrastructure projects on hold, the latest move to target Democratic-run cities during the government shutdown.The director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, said in a post on X that the funding is for “specifically the Red Line Extension and the Red and Purple Modernization Project.” He said it has been “put on hold to ensure funding is not flowing via race-based contracting.”The Department of Transportation said the decision to pause the funding comes after it issued an interim final rule this week barring “race- and sex-based contracting requirements from federal grants.” It said it sent letters on Friday to the Chicago Transit Authority to notify officials that the projects “are under administrative review to determine whether any unconstitutional practices are occurring.””The American people don’t care what race or gender construction workers, pipefitters, or electricians are. They just want these massive projects finally built quickly and efficiently,” the department said in its announcement. It added that the government shutdown “has negatively affected the Department’s staffing resources for carrying out this important analysis.””We urge Democrats in Congress to stop holding the federal government’s budget hostage so USDOT can get back to the important work of the American people,” the department’s release said.Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.President Donald Trump and administration officials warned that they planned to target programs favored by Democrats during the government shutdown. The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment on what cities the administration might be planning to target next, referring NBC News to the Office of Management and Budget for further information.The halt in Chicago rail project money comes after Vought announced on Wednesday, the first day of the government shutdown, that the administration was putting $18 billion for two infrastructure projects in New York City on hold. They include a new commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River and an expansion of the Second Avenue subway line. Freezing money for the projects stands to impact constituents of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who are leading the Democratic opposition in Congress to the Republican short-term government funding bills.Separately, the Department of Energy announced Thursday that it was terminating $7.56 billion in financial awards for 223 energy-related projects. Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee said that the funding targeted 16 Democratic-led states, including 108 congressional districts represented by Democrats and 28 represented by Republicans.Rebecca ShabadRebecca Shabad is a politics reporter for NBC News based in Washington.Jay Blackman contributed.

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Oct. 10, 2025, 1:45 AM EDTBy Kayla SteinbergThousands of U.S.-bound packages shipped by UPS are trapped at hubs across the country, unable to clear the maze of new customs requirements imposed by the Trump administration.As packages flagged for customs issues pile up in UPS warehouses, the company told NBC News it has begun “disposing of” some shipments.Frustrated UPS customers describe waiting for weeks and trying to make sense of scores of conflicting tracking updates from the world’s largest courier.“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Matthew Wasserbach, brokerage manager of Express Customs Clearance, said of the UPS backlog. “It’s totally unprecedented.”Wasserbach’s New York City-based shipping services firm helps clients move shipments through customs. He said the company has seen a spike in inquiries for help with UPS customs clearance.A Boeing 747 operated by UPS on the tarmac at Louisville International Airport in Kentucky during a winter storm on Feb. 3, 2022.Luke Sharrett / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileMore than two dozen people who are waiting for their UPS packages explained the circumstances of their shipments to NBC News.They described shipments of tea, telescopes, luxury glassware, musical instruments and more — some worth tens of thousands of dollars — all in limbo or perhaps gone. Others have deep sentimental value: notebooks, diplomas and even engagement rings.The frustration has exploded online, with customers sharing horror stories on Reddit of missing skin care products, art and collectibles.They are confused and angry, and they want answers.Packages destroyed? “It’s almost impossible to get through to anybody to figure out what is happening,” said Ashley Freberg, who said she is missing several boxes she shipped via UPS from England in September. “Are my packages actually being destroyed or not?”Freberg’s boxes of journals, records and books were shipped on Sept. 18, according to tracking documents she shared with NBC News. Over the next two weeks, she received two separate notifications from UPS that her personal mementos had not cleared customs and as a result had been “disposed of” by UPS.Then, on Oct. 1, a UPS tracking update appeared for her packages, saying they were on the way. The tracking updates Freberg showed NBC News for that shipment revealed it was the most recent update she had received. UPS transport jets wait to be loaded with packages at UPS Worldport in Louisville, Ky., on April 27, 2021.Timothy D. Easley / AP fileWhile sentimental value is impossible to measure, other customers fear they will not be able to recover financially if their goods were destroyed.Tea importer Lauren Purvis of Portland, Oregon, said five shipments from Japan, mostly containing matcha green tea and collectively worth more than $127,000, were all sent via UPS over the last few weeks and arrived at UPS’ international package processing hub in Louisville, Kentucky. Purvis has yet to receive any of the shipments, only a flurry of conflicting tracking updates from UPS.A series of notifications for one shipment, which she shared with NBC News, said that the shipment had not cleared customs and that UPS had disposed of it. But a subsequent tracking update said the shipment had cleared customs and was on the way.“We know how to properly document and pay for our packages,” Purvis said. “There should be zero reason that a properly documented and paid-for package would be set to be disposed of.”At least a half-dozen people described an emotional seesaw they were put through by weeks of contradictory UPS tracking updates about their shipments. The updates, they said, compounded the stress of not knowing what had really happened to their possessions.A UPS Boeing 767 aircraft taxis at San Diego International Airport, in San Diego, Calif., August 15, 2025.Kevin Carter / Getty Images fileAJ, a Boston man who asked that NBC News use only his initials to protect his privacy, said he shipped a package from Japan via UPS on Sept. 12 including Japanese language books, a pillow and a backpack. After it sat in Louisville for nearly two weeks, AJ got a tracking update on Sept. 26, one of several that he shared with NBC News. “We’re sorry, your package did not clear customs and has been removed from the UPS network. Per customs guidelines, it has been destroyed. Please contact the sender for more information,” it read.UPS tracking updates for a package shipped from Japan to the United States.Obtained by NBC NewsThree days later, on Sept. 29, he received another, and this one read: “On the Way. Import Scan, Louisville, KY, United States.” For a moment, it appeared as though AJ’s shipment might have been found. But less than 24 hours after his hopes were raised, another tracking update arrived: “We’re sorry,” it began. It was the same notice that his package had “been destroyed” that he had received on the 26th. Two minutes later, he got his final update: “Unable to Deliver. Package cannot clear due to customs delay or missing info. Attempt to contact sender made. Package has been disposed of.” A mess for customs International shipping was thrown into chaos after the long-standing “de minimis” tariff exemption for low-value packages ended on Aug. 29. Packages with values of $800 or less, which were previously allowed to enter the United States duty-free, are now subject to a range of tariffs and fees.They include hundreds of country-specific rates, or President Donald Trump’s so-called reciprocal tariffs, as well as new levies on certain products and materials. President Donald Trump holds a chart as he speaks about reciprocal tariffs at a “Make America Wealthy Again” event at the White House on April 2.Brendan Smialowski / AFP – Getty Images fileThe result is that international shipping to the United States today is far more complex and costly than it was even two months ago. The sweeping changes have caught private individuals and veteran exporters alike in a customs conundrum.It is difficult to know the exact number of the packages that are stuck in UPS customs purgatory. Shipping companies guard their delivery data closely. UPS reported to investors that in 2023, its international service delivered around 3.2 million packages per day.This week, the company told NBC News that it is clearing more than 90% of the packages it handles through customs on the first day. The rest of the packages, or less than 10%, require more time to clear customs and need to be held until they do. That could easily mean that thousands of UPS packages every day are not clearing customs on their first try.No easy fixIn a statement to NBC News, UPS said it is doing its best to get all packages to their destinations while abiding by the new customs requirements.“Because of changes to U.S. import regulations, we are seeing many packages that are unable to clear customs due to missing or incomplete information about the shipment required for customs clearance,” it said. UPS said it makes several attempts to get any missing information and clear delayed shipments, contacting shippers three times.“In cases where we cannot obtain the necessary information to clear the package, there are two options,” it said. “First, the package can be returned to the original shipper at their expense. Second, if the customer does not respond and the package cannot be cleared for delivery, disposing of the shipment is in compliance with U.S. customs regulations. We continue to work to bridge the gap of understanding tied to the new requirements and, as always, remain committed to serving our customers.”A conveyor belt carries envelopes and small packages past UPS workers to their destinations at Worldport on Nov. 20, 2015.Patrick Semansky / AP, fileNBC News asked UPS precisely what it does with packages when it tells customers their shipments have been unable to clear customs and have been “disposed of.” It would not say. On Sept. 27, a shipper in Stockholm received a formal notification from UPS that two packages her glassware company sent to the United States — which failed to clear customs — would be destroyed.“We are sorry, but due to these circumstances and the perishable nature of the contents, we are now required to proceed with destruction of the shipment in accordance with regulatory guidelines,” UPS told Anni Cernea in an email she shared with NBC News.The email continued, “There is no need to contact our call center for further information or to attempt to clear this shipment.”Cernea said, “It’s just outrageous that they can dispose of products like this without approval from either the sender or recipient.”From now on, Cernea said, she plans to ship her products via UPS rival FedEx.Trouble aheadCernea’s decision to switch carriers hints at the worst-case scenario for UPS, which is that people could abandon the company. It is a potential crisis for the roughly $70 billion company. The company’s stock price is already down more than 30% this year, which analysts attribute to a mix of tariffs, competition and shifting shopping habits.As she awaits her missing journals and diplomas from England, Freberg is looking ahead to the biggest shipping months of the year.“I can’t even imagine how bad the holidays are going to be, because that’s a time where loads of people are shipping stuff overseas,” she said.“If it doesn’t get solved soon, I can only see it becoming an even bigger issue.”Kayla SteinbergKayla Steinberg is a producer at NBC News covering business and the economy.

October 1, 2025

Sept. 30, 2025, 8:49 PM EDTBy Monica Alba and Raquel Coronell UribeWASHINGTON — National parks will remain partially open during the government shutdown set to begin Wednesday, according to an Interior Department contingency plan posted Tuesday evening.Open-air sites will remain open to the public, but buildings that require staffing, such as visitor centers or sites like the Washington Monument, will be closed. Health and safety will continue to be addressed for sites that remain operational, meaning restrooms will be open and trash will be collected, the Interior Department said.The contingency plans specify that park roads, lookouts, trails and open-air memorials will stay open but emergency services will be limited. The department added that if public access begins to pose a safety, health or resource protection issue, an area must close.Critical Senate vote fails as shutdown deadline looms02:02The contingency plan says that about 64% of the National Park Service workforce is set to be furloughed and that those kept on would perform “excepted” activities, such as law enforcement or emergency response, border and coastal protection and surveillance, and fire suppression and monitoring.The published plans come hours before a funding lapse across the federal government. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told agencies in a memo Tuesday night to begin implementing their shutdown plans.Recent shutdowns led to confusion about the public’s access to national parks. During the last shutdown, in his first term, President Donald Trump ordered parks to remain open. Trails and outdoor sites stayed open ,and some staff members stayed on to clean restrooms and empty trash cans.Still, many park employees were furloughed, resulting in trash piling up and restrooms filling up with human waste. Some parks, including California’s Joshua Tree, eventually had to close because of damage made by unsupervised visitors.That shutdown was the longest in U.S. history, lasting 34 days.During the 2013 shutdown, the park service took a different approach to park access. At the time, park gates were closed and bathrooms were locked. Trash went uncollected, and fencing went up around some sites, like the Lincoln Memorial.In both shutdowns, there was more notice about the plan, whereas the contingency plans published Tuesday night came just hours before a shutdown.The park service workforce, which could experience significant furloughs, is already more depleted than usual. The National Parks Conservation Association, an advocacy organization, estimated in July that the park service lost 24% of its permanent staff as a consequence of the Trump administration’s efforts to reduce the federal workforce through the Department of Government Efficiency.The park service reinstated a number of purged employees, however, The Associated Press reported this month.The park service did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night on the number of job cuts and how many people were rehired.The National Parks Conservation Association said Monday that the impacts of keeping parks open last time were “disastrous” and that some parks suffered damage that took months or even years to recover from.“A government shutdown would leave our parks understaffed and vulnerable, putting our most cherished places and millions of visitors at risk. If a national park has a gate or door, it must be locked until a funding deal is reached and our parks can be staffed and protected,” it said in a news release.Meanwhile, a letter signed by more than 40 former park superintendents urged Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to close parks, too, arguing that keeping them open during past shutdowns caused harm to them and jeopardized visitor safety.“If you don’t act now, history is not just doomed to repeat itself, the damage could in fact be much worse,” the letter said.Monica AlbaMonica Alba is a White House correspondent for NBC News.Raquel Coronell UribeRaquel Coronell Uribe is a breaking news reporter.

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