WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s executive order freezing infrastructure funding authorized by Congress is putting billions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of jobs and tens of thousands of projects at risk, according to Democrats in Congress.

The head of a major American seaport agreed.

“Our entire industry is very alarmed and concerned about the pause on grant funding,” Paul Anderson, president and CEO of Port Tampa Bay, told lawmakers at a House Transportation and Infrastructure maritime subcommittee hearing on Wednesday.

Anderson, a past chairman of the American Association of Port Authorities, said the concern was significant enough to warrant an emergency meeting of representatives from ports around the country.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty, and [the funding pause] will be very difficult and burdensome for ports that have had strategic planning involving the use of federal grants.”

But Anderson also believes it’s too early to panic.

“We’re very early on in this new administration. I think we need patience to let this work its way out,” he told the committee. “I think once this is reevaluated and looked at, pragmatism will win the day. We can’t just stop delivering funds – these grants … are critical to competing on the world stage.”

Two competitive grants that ports rely on for expansion projects, the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP) and the Marine Highway Grant Program, were swept up in Trump’s recent executive orders and policy memos that halted federal project funding.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided $2.25 billion for the PIDP program over five years (2022-2026), with $450 million made available for fiscal year 2025.

A memo issued last week by the Office of Management and Budget rescinded the funding freeze, but lawmakers and port executives are still unsure of the status of project money that has already been approved.

U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Calif., the ranking member of the subcommittee, said the subcommittee “has yet to get clear answers” from the U.S. Maritime Administration, which administers the grants, about whether any port projects have so far had to be halted.

U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., said that property adjacent to the Port of Anacortes in his district “has been sitting unused to its maximum job potential for a long time, and now that’s on pause,” due to funding uncertainty. “Imagine that story being told in every Democratic and Republican district in this country right now, because of this uncalled for pause.”

USAID shutdown affecting ships, mariners

Trump’s plans to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development is also taking a toll on the U.S. maritime sector, the subcommittee was told, because much of the international cargo included in programs administered by the agency is required to be hauled by U.S. flag ships.

“Right now for us this is a major issue,” Brian Schoeneman, legislative director for the Seafarers International Union of North America, testified before the subcommittee.

“I’ve talked to one of our biggest food aid carriers, they have ships currently sailing. One of them already has been laid up because they don’t have cargo. Another one is on its way back from Africa, and it will get laid up when it gets here. Every time they lay a ship up, that’s 20 to 30 jobs for my members, and we don’t know how long these ships are going to be out of service.”

He said one U.S. flag carrier is still owed $6 million under its government contract and “they’re worried about never getting paid.”

Undermining competition

Democrats see budget cuts aimed at making the federal government more efficient as weakening America’s ability to compete in the maritime sector with foreign adversaries.

“Continued threats and actions to claw back infrastructure funding are sowing chaos and will have devastating impacts on the maritime industry, national security and economic security,” Larsen said. “China heavily subsidizes port and maritime operations, while the U.S. does not.”

Schoeneman asserted those subsidies amount to billions, if not trillions, of U.S. dollars.

“In less than 30 years, China has emerged as the dominant commercial maritime power,” he said. “They are the world’s largest shipowner, the world’s largest shipbuilder, and they control most of the world’s trailer chassis, maritime cranes, and shipping container supply.

“In that same period, the United States has invested a pittance. While we aren’t failing when it comes to our infrastructure, we’re on the brink. We as a nation have not made maritime a priority, but our opponents have, and the proof is all around us.”

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