Trump Administration Moves Asian Carp Project From Illinois, Governor Calls It Political Stunt

The Trump administration announced this week it would move management of the $1.15 billion Brandon Road Interbasin Project from Illinois to Michigan. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called the move a political stunt that could jeopardize progress on the vital Great Lakes protection effort.

Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle directed project management to transfer from the Army Corps Rock Island District in Illinois to the Detroit District in Michigan. Telle stated the change was necessary because Illinois has been an unreliable partner, delinquent on payments and real estate commitments.

Illinois has upheld our commitments, Pritzker responded on social media. Trump must stop this political stunt and start releasing the funds, get the project moving again, and protect the Great Lakes. Pritzker emphasized that Illinois owns the land the Brandon Road Project will be built on and that the state will take legal action if the administration breaks binding agreements.

The multiyear project aims to prevent invasive Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan and other Great Lakes. The fish can exceed 100 pounds and spread rapidly, threatening native fish populations and the $20 billion fishing and boating industries in the region.

The Trump administration announced the management transfer after a White House visit by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on March 10. Trump posted on Truth Social that day about protecting the Great Lakes from what he called the violent and destructive Asian carp, which the Brandon Road Interbasin Project would prevent from colonizing the Great Lakes.

The announcement comes amid ongoing tensions between the administration and Illinois over federal funding. In December 2025, the Trump administration issued an administrative review and paused the Brandon Road Interbasin Project with no federal funds being delivered. The pause has delayed construction work and put the entire project in jeopardy.

Illinois officials have been fighting to secure funding commitments approved under the Biden administration. In May 2025, President Trump issued a memorandum committing to protect the Great Lakes from invasive carp species. The commitment came after Illinois demanded a pledge from the federal government to deliver $225 million appropriated by Congress.

That pledge did not materialize. Illinois never received the money despite the commitment, the governor's office stated. In February 2025, the governor postponed a property rights closing on the project based on anticipated lack of federal funding.

The administration has withheld $117 million in federal grants to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, forcing the state to pause contracts and put nearly 70 infrastructure projects on hold. In addition to the Brandon Road project funding pause, three major federal grants to Illinois totaling $13.6 million for invasive carp removal are paused pending review by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

To date, fishermen contracted by the State of Illinois have removed nearly 78 million pounds of invasive carp from waterways. The carp have already made it into the Illinois River from the Mississippi River, threatening to advance further toward Lake Michigan.

Congressional lawmakers from both parties have warned that the Army Corps district in Illinois still needs federal funds released to avoid a costly setback. On April 9, Republican Bill Huizenga and Democrat Debbie Dingell of Michigan, along with Republican David Joyce and Democrat Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, signed a bipartisan letter to the Army Corps and Office of Management and Budget.

Progress will be lost, the lawmakers warned. The Army Corps Rock Island District will be forced to restart the sixmonth procurement process and renegotiate all pending contracts if funding is not soon released. Such a setback would hike costs significantly.

The April 9 Army Corps announcement on project management noted the fiscal year 2026 Civil Works work plan released April 3 includes $28 million for the flushing lock and right descending bank construction contract. But it did not otherwise address funding, contract approvals or whether money would be released in time to sign pending contracts.

The Corps announcement stated that Assistant Secretary Telle moved project management out of Illinois to ensure the project progresses in closer coordination with the state of Michigan, which has been a model nonfederal sponsor for this project to date.

On social media, Telle went further, saying we are aggressively moving out on this project and moving its management out of Illinois, which has been an unreliable partner, delinquent on its payments and real estate commitments.

Exactly what practical difference moving project management would have on contracting authority, engineering oversight, construction administration and stakeholder coordination is not immediately clear. Army Corps headquarters did not reply to questions on Friday. Detroit District staff referred questions to headquarters, only releasing a short statement saying it looked forward to managing the project.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources referred inquiries to Whitmer's office. The governor did not answer specific questions about the project and instead released a statement saying she is committed to protecting our Great Lakes from invasive carp, and that is why she has worked with Illinois and the federal administration to get the Brandon Road project moving forward with urgency.

The Army Corps is redesigning the Brandon Road Lock and Dam with a combination of fortifications. These include flushing mechanisms, acoustic deterrents, bubble curtains and electricity to deter the carp from entering the Great Lakes.

Stakeholders say the bigger issue is White House review of construction contracts, not which Corps district oversees the work. As I understand it, we have got two construction contracts that are waiting to be signedoff on by OMB or the White House that havent been, said Joel Brammeier, CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. That can be done regardless of where the project is being managed from.

The April 9 Army Corps announcement on project management arrived the same day members of Congress from both parties warned that the Army Corps district in Illinois still needed federal funds released to avoid a costly setback.

Pritzker's office said this week the Army Corps faced a Saturday, April 11 deadline to obligate their own contracts to move this project forward.

The announcement that project management was being moved out of Illinois arrived during a period of heightened tensions between Trump and Pritzker. The feud has become a leading public face of Democratic resistance to the Trump administration, which has repeatedly picked fights with Illinois over sanctuary laws, immigration enforcement and Chicago policing.

Pritzker temporarily halted the state's cooperation with the project early last year while seeking written assurances that Trump would honor funding commitments approved under Biden. The stalemate ended in May when Illinois approved a key property transfer needed for construction after the White House issued a memorandum stating it would not attempt to rescind federal funds so long as Illinois cooperated.

That memorandum and direction to move forward with maximum speed and efficiency followed a White House meeting in which Trump brought Hall and Whitmer into the Oval Office and pledged to save Lake Michigan. A visibly uncomfortable Michigan governor tried to hide her face from cameras at one point during the meeting.

Several months later, Trump publicly suggested he would withhold federal funding for Brandon Road unless Pritzker personally requested it. Telling reporters he was not going to do anything on the invasive carp barrier until he heard from the Illinois governor.

Then in January, U.S. senators from Michigan and Illinois flagged an unexplained pause on funding approved by Congress for the project. The lawmakers warned an administrative review threatened to prevent new contracts from being awarded and stall progress.

It is not certain whether that review and funding impasse is over. The announcement that project management was moving out of Illinois arrived the same day members of Congress from both parties warned that the Army Corps district in Illinois still needed federal funds released to avoid a costly setback.

The partisan crossfire follows a turbulent 2025 in which the Brandon Road project became entangled in a feud between Trump and Pritzker. The Illinois governor is a billionaire and potential 2028 presidential candidate who has become a leading public face of Democratic resistance to the Trump administration.

The Great Lakes are a treasured international resource and the largest fresh water source in the world, Pritzker stated in a written statement. If the Trump administration does not deliver needed federal funds, then they are betraying every American that relies on this water. It is imperative that President Trump uphold his stated commitments to stop the invasive species threatening our Great Lakes and release the funds needed to resume construction on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project. Illinois has always done our part, and it is past time President Trump do his.