Illinois governor calls transfer of Asian carp project to Michigan a stunt

WASHINGTON ― Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is pushing back against the Trump administration's reasoning for reassigning management of a key federal-state project to block invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes after a top Army Corps official called Illinois an "unreliable partner."

Pritzker called the move to shift project oversight to Michigan a "political stunt," insisting that Illinois has upheld its commitments to the project and threatening that, if President Donald Trump breaks legally binding agreements, "then Illinois will take action." The project is located in Illinois.

"Trump must stop this political stunt and start releasing the funds, get the project moving again, and protect the Great Lakes," Pritzker said on social media. "Illinois owns the land the Brandon Road Project will be built on — Trump cannot just decide to give it away."

The project has been held up for months while under review by the Trump administration since December. That appeared to change Thursday when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that the next phase of construction would soon begin on the project known as the the Brandon Road Interbasin Project.

The Civil Works plan released by the Army Corps on April 3 included $28 million to start the contract for the flushing lock and right descending bank's construction.

Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said in a Thursday statement that he was directing management and execution of the Brandon Road project to be "immediately" transferred from the Corps' Rock Island District in Illinois to the Detroit District in Michigan.

"This transfer will ensure the project progresses in closer coordination with the state of Michigan, which has been a model non-federal sponsor for this project to date," the Corps said in statement by headquarters in Washington.

In a separate statement on social media, Telle said that President Trump has been a "champion" of keeping the invasive carp out of the lakes. He added that the Corps is "aggressively moving out on this project" and called Illinois an "unreliable partner, delinquent on its payments and real estate commitments."

Michigan has been a "good partner and stands to benefit more than any other state," Telle said.

"Our partners in the Great Lake States can't allow one state to have undue influence and use it to play more games," Telle wrote. "This is great news for every state in the region, including Illinois."

In a statement, Detroit District spokeswoman Carrie Fox said that the district "looks forward to managing the Brandon Road Interbasin Project and the challenge of seeing this major civil works investment completed.

"Addressing invasive Asian Carp is critical for the Great Lakes. We are excited to collaborate with our state and federal partners to protect our waters," Fox said by email.

The dustup over the transfer of the project's management is the latest conflict involving Pritzker, Trump and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who has raised the Asian carp issue during meetings with Trump over the last year.

Trump said last year that he had spoken with the Army Corps and noted they have a "pretty gruesome method" for blocking the fish, even if it's "expensive." A year ago, Trump directed officials to streamline any permitting and environmental reviews or approvals for the project "as quickly as possible."

Months later, in August, however, Trump suggested he'd withhold funding for Brandon Road because Pritzker hadn't made the same request for help on the issue that Whitmer did, the Chicago Tribune reported. "I think until I get that request from that guy, I’m not going to do anything about it," he said.

The project near Joliet is the result of over 10 years of study and planning by the Army Corps to prevent Asian carp from traveling beyond the Brandon Road lock and dam, which is 286 miles above the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers.

The location is considered a choke point in the fight against invasive species reaching Great Lakes waterways, where scientists say the fish would pose a significant threat to the region’s native species and aquatic ecosystems.

"Governor Whitmer is committed to protecting our Great Lakes from invasive carp, and that’s why she has worked with Illinois and the federal administration to get the Brandon Road project moving forward with urgency," Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy said in a statement.

"This will help protect 1.5 million jobs that generate more than $60 billion in wages a year across the entire region. The governor will continue to work to get the job done so we can protect our lakes and power economic growth for generations to come."

House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, praised the decision to move the project management to Michigan.“President Trump is making a strong, smart move to protect our Great Lakes,” Hall said in a statement. “It takes a strong leader to blow past the obstruction in Illinois, and it takes someone who cares about Michigan and our environment to keep pushing this project forward.”

Michigan and Illinois officials had reached an agreement in 2024 with the Army Corps to move forward on construction of the project at Brandon Road.

That agreement allows for $274 million in federal funding and $114 million in state funding to be used for the construction of the first of three phases of the project. Almost all of the federal appropriation comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law signed under former President Joe Biden.

After Telle's announcement last week, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources highlighted the Project Partnership Agreement executed by Illinois and Michigan with the Army Corps on July 1, 2024, that outlines the legal process required to modify or terminate the project.

Illinois has dedicated $50 million in the state’s budget since fiscal 2024 for design and early construction work, and has acquired the parcels of land requested by the Army Corps, according to IDNR, which also said the state has not been delinquent on any payments.

Since December, Democratic lawmakers from Illinois and Michigan have pressed the Trump administration to release of federal funding is necessary for the Corps of Engineers to obligate their own contracts to move this project forward.

They expressed concern that continued delay could soon affect the next round of contract awards and cause the long-delayed project's cost to spike after more than a decade of study, engineering work and planning.

Scientists have long warned that invasive carp getting established in the Great Lakes would outcompete existing fish populations, permanently damage ecosystems and harm the $7 billion Great Lakes economy.

The $1.15 billion project at the Brandon Road Lock & Dam in Joliet, Illinois, was authorized by Congress in 2020.

Plans involve building a series of mechanisms to block carp from traveling from the Mississippi River watershed to Lake Michigan, including an electric barrier; underwater sounds and an air bubble "curtain" that deters fish; a barge clearing device that makes sure fish don't sneak through; pesticides; upstream fishing; and other methods. It is expected to take six to eight years to complete.