Puerto Rico will be barred from paying its $15-an-hour minimum wage to workers on federally funded projects. And none of the funds can be used on the electrical grid, although the Department of Housing and Urban Development has yet to release nearly $2 billion that was allocated for Puerto Rico’s electrical system.

White House officials acknowledged that rolling blackouts continue in Puerto Rico but insisted there was no need for new money.

The requirements were first reported by The Washington Post.

A congressional aide involved in the issue said the White House and its budget office appeared to have chosen restrictions that would be politically difficult for Puerto Rican officials to carry out. That way, the aide suggested, the federal government would not appear responsible for withholding the aid.

For example, the fiscal control board is viewed in Puerto Rico as unaccountable to the people. And Puerto Rican officials are not inclined to tell workers they will be paid less than the minimum wage. With regard to the property and deed registrations, Puerto Ricans have long used informal ownership records.

The restriction relating to the electrical grid may just be a practical one: Congress has already appropriated a separate tranche of money specifically for the electrical grid, though it has yet to be allocated.

Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, called the new restrictions “onerous and unprecedented” and said they “would add insult to injury for our fellow Americans in Puerto Rico reeling from multiple natural disasters.”

The White House announcement came four days after a 5.9-magnitude earthquake rocked an island reeling from a series of earthquakes this month and still struggling to recover from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. Parts of the island have lost power, and some Puerto Ricans have set up camp in public spaces instead of returning to their homes.