New Delhi, Oct. 2 -- The US government shutdown widened on Wednesday as President Donald Trump's administration froze $26 billion in funding for Democratic-leaning states.

The freeze included $18 billion for transit projects in New York, home to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and $8 billion for green-energy programs in 16 Democratic-run states such as California and Illinois.

Top Democrats accused the president of weaponizing the shutdown for political purposes. Jeffries warned that halting subway and harbor projects in his home state of New York would "throw thousands out of work."

Schumer was even more blunt: "He is using the American people as pawns, threatening pain on the countr...