Army Corps Lifts an Unexplained Two-Month Stop-Work Order on the Great Lakes Carp Barrier Hours After Whitmer Calls Trump

On September 2, 2026, hours after Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer telephoned Trump, the Army Corps of Engineers lifted a stop-work order it had imposed in July on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project near Joliet, Illinois, the state-federal barrier meant to keep invasive carp out of Lake Michigan, the Associated Press reported. The Corps had halted work citing an administrative review and offered little explanation, even as Illinois detected hundreds of juvenile carp about 80 miles from the lake in August, the farthest upstream on record.

The episode shows a congressionally funded infrastructure project being paused and restarted on personal presidential intervention rather than through a stated agency process, while Illinois, where the project sits, was left uninformed. It is the second time this year the project stalled until Whitmer personally lobbied the president.

Michigan was told work could resume; Illinois said it had received no communication. The Corps did not respond to AP's request for comment.