Senators accuse Corps of politicizing project pauses; Whitehouse says OMB froze $11B in projects

Senators from both parties pressed Corps witnesses about an October administrative action that froze roughly $11,000,000,000 in Corps funding for studies and projects. Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse accused the administration of politicizing Corps decisions and said the pause appeared to fall disproportionately on projects in states represented by Democratic senators.

"Please remember that you lead the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, not the Donald J. Trump Corps of Engineers," Whitehouse said during his opening remarks, urging an immediate course correction and fuller responsiveness to congressional information requests.

Assistant Secretary Adam Tell and Lt. Gen. William H. Graham Jr. disputed the characterization that decisions were taken for partisan reasons while acknowledging communication and administrative delays. Tell said the Corps has provided detailed responses for a set of 39 projects to Whitehouse's office and that outstanding reports and QFRs remain in administrative review.

Tell and Graham emphasized that some paused items require additional appropriations or longer rulemaking, and that the administrative review process often involves coordination with OMB and other agencies. Tell said the Corps will continue monthly staff engagement with members' offices to accelerate information flow.

Senators asked for immediate releases of two reports that had already been produced but were described as under administrative review, including a dredging study requested by WRDA 2022 and a report on hydropower deauthorization impacts in the Willamette Valley. Tell and Graham committed to pressing interagency reviewers to clear the outstanding materials for committee review.

No formal findings of partisan instruction were made on the record; senators asked the Corps to provide the committee with lists of affected projects and timely status updates.