The Federal Transit Administration Proposes Paying Up to 10 Points More of a Rail or Bus Project's Cost Where Birth and Marriage Rates Are Above Average — Patty Murray Calls It "the Sort of Bizarre and Dystopian Idea You'd Expect in a TV Show," and Jerry Nadler Says "Project 2025 Is Alive and Well"

October 7, 2026

On Oct. 1, 2026, the Federal Transit Administration published draft guidance in the Federal Register that would raise the federal share of eligible Capital Investment Grants projects — the main federal source of money for new rail and bus rapid transit lines — by up to 10 percentage points depending on the birth and marriage rates in a project's corridor. A corridor with a birth rate more than 1 percent above the national average would add five points; one at or up to 1 percent above it would add three; one within 1 percent below it would add one. Marriage rates are scored the same way. On a $3 billion rail project, 10 points is worth roughly $300 million. The proposal carries out a priority Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy set in a January 2025 memo directing the department to favor communities with above-average marriage and birth rates. "If you want federal funding, your project needs to align with where communities and families are actually growing," the department said. Sen. Patty Murray, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, called it "bizarre and dystopian" and said Trump "wants to weaponize federal grants to wage his backward culture wars." Rep. Jerry Nadler called it "Trump and Duffy's disturbing and dystopian dream of forcing women to marry and have more babies." The guidance is open for public comment until Nov. 16 and has not taken effect.