Federal attorneys admitted the Trump Transportation Division’s authorized theories for shutting down New York’s congestion toll don’t maintain a lot water in a mysteriously-filed memo that popped up on the docket of the MTA’s go well with towards the administration Wednesday night time.
Formally listed as a letter from lead lawyer for the federal government Dominika Tarczynska to Decide Lewis Liman — who’s overseeing the case in Manhattan federal court docket — introducing a doc into proof, what the feds posted as a substitute was an 11-page inner memo to the Division of Transportation, dated April 11, explaining gaping holes of their case and authorized technique.
“There is considerable litigation risk in defending [U.S. DOT Secretary Sean Duffy’s] February 19, 2025 decision [to attempt to revoke congestion pricing authorization] against [the MTA’s] claims … that the decision was contrary to law, pretextual, procedurally arbitrary and capricious, and violated due process,” wrote three of the assistant U.S. Attorneys tasked with doing simply that.
“… it is unlikely that Judge Liman or further courts of review will accept the argument that [congestion pricing] was not a statutorily authorized ‘value pricing’ pilot under [the relevant law],” the memo continues.
Congestion pricing indicators welcome drivers on Park Ave. within the 60’s. (Barry Williams / New York Day by day Information)
Signed by Tarczynska in addition to assistant U.S. attorneys David Farber and Christine Poscablo, the memo goes on to counsel that the feds “may, however, be able to properly terminate” congestion pricing by proposing to take action “as a matter of changed agency priorities rather than arguing [that congestion pricing] was not statutorily authorized in the first instance.”
For practically three months, Duffy has argued — in a collection of strongly worded letters and offended tweets — that he can summarily revoke an authorization given by the Biden administration that allowed New York State to toll drivers getting into Midtown or decrease Manhattan on federally funded roads, and use the revenues to fund MTA transit tasks.
The argument has turn out to be one of the crucial outstanding flash factors within the Trump regime’s efforts to bigfoot state authorities.
However the memo launched Wednesday exhibits that even the federal attorneys have deep doubts about whether or not they can persuade a decide to finish the toll.
In declaring the dying of congestion pricing, Duffy has particularly claimed that New York’ congestion toll is unlawful partially as a result of there isn’t a un-tolled path to get into the town’s congestion zone.
However that argument doesn’t maintain up, the attorneys wrote, offering no less than two cases during which the so-called “VPPP” — the Bush-era regulation that permits congestion pricing — has been licensed elsewhere within the nation with out a toll-free various.
“[W]e have not identified a provision that requires there to be a non-Interstate route to a particular location, or a requirement that that route not be tolled,” they added.
Duffy has additionally argued that the toll is unlawful as a result of it’s designed fund an inventory of MTA tasks reasonably than strictly to cut back congestion.
Once more, the attorneys wrote, there are “impediments to this argument being successful.”
“As a legal matter, there is nothing in the statute that prohibits a VPPP program from having a two-fold goal, limits how tolls are to be set, or sets forth the amount of congestion reduction that is to be achieved,” the attorneys stated, including that a number of research signed off on by the feds had certainly discovered the toll reduces congestion.
As a substitute of counting on Duffy’s arguments, the attorneys proposed making an attempt to terminate the toll by declaring that it “no longer effectuates the … agency priorities” of the U.S. DOT, which they are saying may defend towards the MTA’s claims “that they were not provided due process or that the termination [of the toll] was procedurally arbitrary and capricious.”
However that’s not a positive factor, the legal professionals wrote, suggesting Duffy bolster the technique by explaining in future public statements that his company “has decided to change the types of VPPP projects it decides to prioritize or exclude.”
Certainly, in Duffy’s most up-to-date menace to defund New York Metropolis ought to the toll stay in impact, the secretary appears to have taken heed of a few of the memo’s suggestions.
President Donald Trump. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Pictures)
In his letter to Gov. Hochul asserting the deadline, Duffy acknowledged that the related federal regulation permits tolls “to be used for transit projects,” however stated “it is unconscionable as a matter of policy that highway users are being forced to bail out the MTA transit system.”
In an announcement shared by Halee Dobbins, a spokeswoman for the federal Transportation Division, officers there accused the legal professionals of an intentional leak.
“Unfortunately, an attorney-client privileged document was erroneously filed on the public docket last night,” Biase stated. “This was a completely honest error and was not intentional in any way.”
“Upon realizing the error, we immediately took steps to have the document removed,” he continued. “We look forward to continuing to vigorously advocate in the best interest of our clients, the DOT and FHWA, in this matter.”
The memo comes because the SDNY, identified for bringing main white-collar crime and terrorism instances, has seen a management disaster in current months following Trump’s second return to energy — biking by means of 5 U.S. attorneys since December.
Weeks after Trump was elected, Manhattan U.S. Legal professional Damian Williams, who aggressively pursued public corruption throughout his tenure, stepped down. Trump changed Williams’ successor, Edward Kim, throughout his first day in workplace with Danielle Sassoon, who give up simply two weeks later reasonably than obeying an order from the president’s new second-in-command on the Justice Division to drop the corruption case towards Mayor Adams.
Sassoon was changed by her deputy, Matthew Podolosky. Final week, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer stated he would search to dam the nomination of Trump’s choose for the celebrated function, former Securities and Alternate Fee chief Jay Clayton. On Tuesday, Trump discovered a workaround by putting Clayton within the job in an interim capability.
Amongst his first duties in that capability, Clayton signed off on a request Thursday that the memo be sealed and faraway from the docket.
Initially Printed: April 24, 2025 at 11:24 AM EDT
