engineers

Oct. 17 (UPI) — The Army Corps of Engineers has paused work on $11 billion in low-priority projects while the federal government remains shut down amid a budget impasse in Congress.

The shutdown has deprived the corps of the funds needed to continue work on many projects, some of which might be canceled, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said Friday in a post on X.

“The Democrat shutdown has drained the Army Corps of Engineers’ ability to manage billions of dollars in projects,” Vought said.

“The Corps will be immediately pausing over $11 billion in lower-priority projects and considering them for cancellation.”

He said the pauses and potential cancellations would include projects in Baltimore, Boston, New York City and San Francisco.

Vought is the first Trump administration official to announce layoffs of federal workers and project pauses due to the government shutdown, CNBC reported.

Vought and President Donald Trump have called the shutdown an opportunity to reduce the size of the federal government.

The president has suggested Democrat-led cities, states and federal programs would be targeted as the funding fight continues in the Senate.

Vought said more information would be released regarding corps project pauses, which also might occur in locales that are not run by Democrats.

The four cities that Vought announced for pauses are led by Democrats and are located in states that have Democrats for their respective governors and representing them in the Senate.

The Trump administration already has paused $18 billion in infrastructure projects in New York City and $2.1billion in Chicago infrastructure projects, according to CBS News.

The administration also has canceled $8 billion for projects involving the climate in 16 states.

Five months ago, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass revealed that more than 1,600 city workers might have to be laid off to close a $1-billion budget shortfall.

On Tuesday, after months of negotiations, Bass stood at City Hall with union leaders and announced that her administration had averted every layoff.

“Some people said it couldn’t be done, but I am so glad to stand here today and say that we have proved the naysayers wrong,” Bass said.

The announcement came on the heels of an agreement with the L.A. City Coalition of Unions, which collectively represents gardeners, mechanics and clerks, who will take up to five unpaid holidays in 2026. Seventy-five workers had previously been targeted for layoffs.

Since the mayor unveiled her proposed budget in late April, she and the City Council have worked to reduce layoffs through a variety of cost-cutting measures. The council scaled back hiring at the LAPD and reduced the number of new hires in the fire department, saving about 1,000 jobs.

Last month, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents sworn LAPD officers, and the Engineers and Architects Assn., which represents city planners and some LAPD civilian employees, signed agreements with the city that saved nearly 300 other jobs.

The Police Protective League agreed to a voluntary program where officers can take days off in exchange for overtime hours, while Engineers and Architects Assn. members will take up to five unpaid holidays.

While the unions negotiated, the city began laying off workers, with many members of the Engineers and Architects Assn. sent home, said Marleen Fonseca, the union’s executive director.

On Monday, Fonseca spoke with a member who had been hospitalized over the weekend, delivering the good news that he had his job back.

“Had we not had this agreement, he would be facing a medical crisis with no health insurance,” she said. “This is the real human difference that solidarity makes.”

The city also moved some employees targeted for layoffs into open jobs in other departments. The City Council worked over the course of 10 committee meetings to find those openings, said Councilmember Tim McOsker.

“This is great news for this fiscal year, but we must remain clear-eyed: our city’s budget challenges will continue and we need to stay focused on long-term solutions and protecting our city workforce and services,” McOsker said.

Nearly 300 Los Angeles city employees were saved from being laid off after two major unions signed off on cost-cutting measures.

The Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents more than 8,700 rank-and-file officers, agreed to create a voluntary program in which its members can take days off in exchange for some of the overtime hours they previously worked.

The layoffs would have affected 222 civilian LAPD employees, such as clerks and administrative support workers. No sworn LAPD officers were slated to be laid off, but some would have had to do the work of the civilians who departed.

“We are continuing to do everything we can to bring layoff numbers down and I want everyone to know that we are still working and anticipate this number to get even lower,” Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “These numbers are not final.”

Meanwhile, the Engineers and Architects Assn. authorized a deal for its 6,000 members to take as many as five unpaid vacation days — in effect furloughs — between Jan. 1 and June 30, which could amount to about a 2% pay cut.

The deal saved the jobs of 63 members who do not work for the Los Angeles Police Department, in roles such as city planner, analyst and civilian investigator.

Some of the LAPD civilian employees who had been in danger of being laid off are represented by the Engineers and Architects Assn., and others are represented by other unions. The Police Protective League represents only sworn officers.

City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo, who oversees labor negotiations at City Hall, said the money freed up by the agreements whittled the number of remaining layoffs to 75. He sent a memorandum to the city’s personnel department on Wednesday to “immediately hold in abeyance the layoff process” for employees represented by the Engineers and Architects Assn., as well as all LAPD employees.

In her proposed budget released in April, Bass called for about 1,600 layoffs as part of a strategy to eradicate a $1-billion shortfall. Weeks later, the City Council made a series of other cost-cutting moves, reducing the number of layoffs by half.

To close the budget shortfall, the council also decided to slow down police hiring — though the mayor and council president later announced that they are looking for money to avoid that outcome.

Since the budget was finalized, hundreds of workers have either left city employment or transferred to positions that are safe from the budget ax, leaving 360 positions targeted for layoff before this week’s agreements, according to a memorandum by Szabo on Aug. 15.

The Police Protective League’s Board of Directors called its agreement with the city a “win-win for all parties.”

“Officer safety is always top of mind for our union and the thought that any additional officers would be pulled away from enforcement duties and moved to non-enforcement duties compelled our union to act,” the board said in a statement. “We worked with the city to create a program that will save money to preserve civilian LAPD jobs while also providing a benefit to our members.”

Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, who chairs the city’s budget committee, said that
“even in a tough budget year, we’ve ensured there will not be a single LAPD civilian layoff.”

“That was always our goal, but it was never guaranteed,” she said. “It was only possible because the Engineers and Architects Assn., the Police Department and City leadership worked in partnership to keep officers on the street and protect public safety.”

Roy Samaan, president of the Engineers and Architects Assn., said his union’s members authorized the agreement with the city in an online vote Sunday.

“We don’t want anyone to lose their jobs,” he said.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Vice President JD Vance’s security detail had an Ohio river’s water level raised to accommodate a kayaking trip he and his family took to celebrate his 41st birthday earlier this month.

The U.S. Secret Service said it requested the increased waterflow for the Little Miami River, first reported by the Guardian, to ensure motorized watercraft and emergency personnel “could operate safely” while protecting the vice president, whose home is in Cincinnati.

But critics immediately blasted the action as a sign of the vice president’s entitlement, particularly given the Trump administration’s focus on slashing government spending.

Richard W. Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said on X that “it’s outrageous for the Army Corps of Engineers to spend taxpayer money to increase water flow in a river so @VP can go canoeing when budget cuts to the National Park Service have severely impacted family vacations for everyone else.”

The Army Corps of Engineers declined to address any financial impact of raising the river. Spokesman Gene Pawlik said the agency’s Louisville District temporarily increased outflows from the Caesar Creek Lake in southwest Ohio into the Little Miami “to support safe navigation of U.S. Secret Service personnel.” He said the move met operational criteria and fell within normal practice.

“It was determined that the operations would not adversely affect downstream or upstream water levels,” he said in a statement. “Downstream stakeholders were notified in advance of the slight outflow increase, which occurred Aug. 1, 2025.” Vance’s birthday was on Aug. 2.

Vance spokesman Taylor Van Kirk said the vice president was unaware the river had been raised.

“The Secret Service often employs protective measures without the knowledge of the Vice President or his staff, as was the case last weekend,” she said via text.

The sprawling 2,830-acre Caesar Creek Lake has an unlimited horsepower designation and five launch ramps, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources website. A marina, a campground and a lodge are also located on site. The department provided two natural resources officers to assist the Secret Service with the Vance event, spokesperson Karina Cheung said.

The Vance family has already become accustomed to certain accommodations being made as they move about the world. During a recent trip to Italy, the Roman Colosseum was closed to the public so that his wife, Usha, and their children could take a tour, sparking anger among some tourists. The Taj Mahal also was closed to visitors during the Vance family’s visit to India.

Such special treatment isn’t reserved for one political party.

When Democratic Vice President Al Gore, then a presidential candidate, paddled down the Connecticut River for a photo opportunity in 1999, utility officials had opened a dam and released 4 billion gallons of water to raise the river’s level. That request too came after a review of the area by the Secret Service — and Gore also experienced political pushback.

Gore’s campaign said at the time that he did not ask for the water to be released.

Smyth writes for the Associated Press.