The Trump administration on Friday froze $2.1 billion in Department of Transportation funding for two projects to improve Chicago's transit system.

The DOT in a statement blamed Congress' two Democratic leaders — Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries — for the federal government shutdown , which the department claimed would slow a review of the Chicago projects to ensure they do not involve "unconstitutional practices" related to the race or gender of construction workers.

That statement echoed a Trump administration talking point that Democrats in Congress are refusing to vote for a short-term funding agreement that would reopen the government because they insist on providing health-care benefits for "illegal immigrants."

Democrats call that claim a lie designed to di

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