Is federal funding for Washington Bridge rebuild over troubled water? Depends who you ask

Twenty-three Democratic attorneys general, including Rhode Island’s Peter Neronha, have spent 18 days in an escalating legal battle with President Donald Trump and his administration over an attempted federal funding freeze.

Front and center in the flurry of federal court filings: the fate of the Washington Bridge, which relies on $220 million in federal grants awarded under the Biden administration to cover the still-unknown final cost to rebuild the westbound highway.

The bridge funding was again featured in an updated complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Rhode Island Thursday, in which the AGs sought Chief Judge John McConnell Jr.’s reinforcement to force federal agencies to release grants and aid, some of which have been inaccessible since Jan. 20. As of Wednesday, there has been no confirmation that the Washington Bridge funding is unaffected by the freeze, the AGs wrote.

Rhode Island Department of Transportation Director Peter Alviti Jr. struck a very different tone when summoned by lawmakers to provide an update on the bridge project at a hearing Thursday.

Eight things to know from a three-hour Washington Bridge oversight hearing

Alviti insisted the pair of U.S. Department of Transportation grants already awarded to Rhode Island for the bridge replacement were not subject to the funding freeze.

“We lobbied strongly with the Federal Highway Administration that our particular projects did not fall into categories that that pause was intended to,” Aliviti said. “It was not intended to impact projects other than projects having to do with certain policies like the Green New Deal policies, DEI policies.”

In an email Friday, Charles St. Martin, a RIDOT spokesperson, said the Federal Highway Administration shares Alviti’s view that the Washington Bridge is not among the federal programs and awards at risk of losing funding under the Trump administration’s executive orders.  

“In addition to the Attorney General’s suit to lift the pause, the Governor and our congressional delegation continue to work at various levels of the administration to ensure the grants move forward, St. Martin said. “We are confident that will happen.”

Still not enough reassurance for Sen. Mark McKenney, a Warwick Democrat and chair of the Senate Committee on Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight. A day after the hearing, McKenney said he appreciated Alviti’s confidence but recognized the need for caution.

“I hope it’s well-founded confidence,” McKenney said in an interview Friday. “Whether it is, I don’t know. If I were a betting man, I would not be planning on that being the case.”

Neronha was not available for comment Friday.

Alviti’s confidence contrasts with the widespread confusion that descended across the nation after the now-infamous White House budget memo was issued on Jan. 27, and rescinded two days later. Even after McConnell issued a temporary restraining order on Jan. 31, barring federal agencies from freezing funds, state agencies, research institutions and grant beneficiaries are still not able to access the money.

Take, for example, the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources (OER), which has been locked out of $125 million to support energy efficiency and renewable energy incentives for nearly three weeks. The funding was awarded to OER as part of a pair of Biden-era funding packages: the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Daniel Schwei, a U.S. Department of Justice attorney representing the Trump administration in the AGs lawsuit over the funding freeze, contended the bipartisan infrastructure law and accompanying tax package was not subject to the temporary restraining order. McConnell dismantled that interpretation in a new order Monday, explicitly stating that funding from both Congressional packages must continue to flow to state agencies and other beneficiaries. 

The Justice Department subsequently appealed McConnell’s order, but the U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals declined its request for an administrative stay, which would have prevented McConnell’s order from taking immediate effect.

And yet, trillions of federal dollars for environmental programs, infrastructure, education, research and health and human services remain blocked, the AGs’ Feb. 13 complaint alleges. 

Robert Beadle, a spokesperson for OER, confirmed in an email Friday morning that the agency still can’t access federal funds for its programs. A separate U.S. Department of Agriculture grant that has helped Rhode Island improve competitiveness for specialty crops for the last four years was frozen on Jan. 30, with funds still not available as of Wednesday, according to the AGs’ complaint.

A hearing on the request for a more permanent block against a funding freeze is scheduled in federal court in Providence on Feb. 21.

Plan A, B and C

Whether Rhode Island even needs federal funding to see the Washington Bridge project through to completion was called into question during Thursday’s oversight hearings.

Minutes after stressing the importance of federal funding for replacement bridge projects across the state, Alviti told state lawmakers that there’s enough money even without the federal grants to complete the bridge project.

“We have always made it a practice at DOT to have a plan A, plan B and plan C in place on any of our projects, and to make damn sure that before we start a project, we have the assurance of having the funds in place to be able to execute that,” Alviti said.

By Alviti’s calculations, the state already has $713 million available to cover the bridge rebuild, offering ample wiggle room beyond the $400 million price estimate as of May 2024 . That includes up to $334 million in borrowing against future federal transportation funding — $140 million of which was authorized by Rhode Island Commerce Corporation in July — plus $50 million leftover from a prior federal grant, $35 million in unspent federal pandemic aid, and up to $100 million available through the state’s long-term capital projects budget, Alviti said.

“It would be extremely advantageous for us to have these two funds, and necessary for us to have these two grants, or these three grants, actually move forward and be provided to us, but in their absence, we have the funding in place … to be able to build a bridge,” Alviti said.

But debt taken on by the state and repaid with future federal transportation funding may rely on the assumption that federal transportation funding will be available —- which might no longer be a guarantee. 

“The notion that anything is a guarantee under Donald Trump is pure folly,” Rep. Matthew Dawson, an East Providence Democrat and attorney who formerly served as deputy chief of the AG’s criminal division, said in an interview Friday. “If the director wants to have optimism, that’s his business. But I am not looking to him for guidance on that.”

McKenney saw Alviti’s optimism as an attempt to win back public trust that has steadily eroded since the bridge was abruptly shuttered nearly 14 months ago.

But, “Trust is won back by actions more than statements,” McKenney said.

Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for Gov. Dan McKee’s office, issued a statement Thursday touting the progress achieved in demolishing the derelict bridge and advancing a solicitation to find a contractor to build its replacement.

“We are committed to accountability, which is why we are collaborating with the Office of the Attorney General on legal action,” DaRocha said, referring to the state’s ongoing lawsuit against 13 contractors hired for design, construction, and inspection services on the existing highway.

DaRocha did not address the separate, federal lawsuit over the Trump administration’s funding freeze, or potential implications for the Washington Bridge.