Less than a year after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the federal government to prioritize blocking invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, his administration has paused the main project being built to block their northward progress.
According to a January letter from Michigan’s Congressional delegation, the Brandon Road Interbasin Project (BRIP) has been paused by the government for an administrative review.
“Moving this project forward is critical to protecting the Great Lakes from invasive carp,” the delegation said in a 15 January joint letter asking the administration to reverse the pause. “It has been thoroughly reviewed by Congress, the Army Corps of Engineers, and local partners, and its funding has been authorized and appropriated by Congress. The current review is unnecessary and could cause delays that put the Great Lakes’ ecosystem and fishing industry at risk.”
Located near Joliet, Illinois, U.S.A., BRIP is designed to be a choke point with a complex series of deterrents to prevent destructive carp from advancing into the lakes.
Though Congress has already authorized funding for the USD 1.2 billion (EUR 1 billion) project, in February 2025, work on BRIP was halted after the Trump administration began freezing federal funding for infrastructure projects. At the time, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker announced that he would not move forward until the Trump administration confirmed that federal funding for BRIP would be released.
An April 2025 meeting between Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Trump seemed to unlock the stalemate, with the president vowing to stop the carp and issuing a memo directing the federal government to “to achieve maximum speed and efficiency” in enabling BRIP.
“We’re going to get it done, and we’ll all stand there together and cut a ribbon,” Trump said after the meeting.
Shortly after that, Illinois bought the key parcel of land needed for BRIP and began moving forward with development.
Now, however, federal lawmakers say the project has been paused once again.
“The federal investment currently is on hold without justification, and additional contracts for the project cannot be awarded due to the funding pause,” Michigan’s delegation wrote. “The current pause and review could increase the cost and slow the final completion date of BRIP, increasing the likelihood that invasive carp could enter the Great Lakes. If invasive carp were to become established in the Great Lakes, they would outcompete existing fish populations, permanently damage ecosystems, and significantly impair the USD 7 billion [EUR 5.9 billion] Great Lakes economy.”
The letter goes on to cite and quote Trump’s support for BRIP at the April 2025 meeting.
“It’s a very expensive thing; it costs a lot … but we have to save Lake Michigan because these fish eat everything in their way, even the other fish. They eat everything. Are people endangered by the fish?” Trump said at the time.
The letter was addressed to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle.
“In light of strong support for this project from the president, Congress, and local sponsors, we urge you to end the pause and review of BRIP and release federal funds to the Amry Corps of Engineers Rock Island District without delay,” the lawmakers wrote.
