Trump Administration Not to Sue if MTA Misses Deadlines – Court Documents Reveal
The U.S. Department of Transportation under the Trump administration currently does not possess any intentions to file a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), should it fail to meet the termination dates set by Secretary Sean Duffy for the state’s congestion pricing program. This information became available via recent court documents. Secretary Duffy has gained some notoriety for his frequent tough comments and social media proclamations, which frequently targeted inflow of funds to the transit agency and criticized Governor Hochul’s attitude towards the federal government.
The court documents were released as part of the MTA’s legal action to secure the aforementioned program. An MTA attorney shed light on this issue, suggesting ongoing discussions were taking place with federal government lawyers as both parties strive to set a schedule for the case. There was a specific query from the MTA side if the federal entities have plans to take any one-sided move post-April 20, which could compel the plaintiffs to apply for swift injunctive relief.
In response, the federal government’s lawyers have clarified that, at this time, they are not considering seeking an interim injunction themselves. This indicates that even if the MTA fails to meet Duffy’s random deadline for the discontinuation of congestion pricing, the federal government’s legal team does not plan to initiate immediate legal proceedings to halt the toll ahead of the lawsuit’s resolution.
The MTA’s attorney has proposed a timeline for the case, to which the federal parties are in agreement. This proposed timeline hints at the possibility that the case could stretch into October. However, the specifics on the powers the federal government could employ to cancel a prior permission and stop a state-managed program mandated by state law continue to remain nebulous.
Secretary Duffy initially attempted to stop the toll in the month of February. At that time, he announced that his department had rescinded an important federal authorization that the Biden administration had previously granted. Interestingly, the authorization explicitly mentioned that only the state of New York has the authority to overturn it, but Duffy chose to ignore this specification.
The same day Secretary Duffy made this announcement, the MTA filed a suit in a federal court. Following this, Duffy’s department sent a letter demanding that New York stop collecting tolls by March 21. In a surprising turn of events on March 20, Duffy revised his stance and tweeted a 30-day extension to the deadline, moving it to April 20th.
Throughout the changing timelines, Secretary Duffy threatened to halt the federal funds destined for the MTA, which roughly amount to around $2 billion per year from the central government. Interestingly, he tied this threat to the increasing crime rates in the New York City subway system, whereas the statistics pointed to the crime rates being the lowest in a decade.
The MTA attorney, in a letter to the court, mentioned that Secretary Duffy seemed to imply that the federal authorities might consider unlawfully withholding federal funding from the State of New York, using measures previously employed by the Trump Administration in numerous other recent instances, with an intention to force compliance.
The attorney continued to state that the MTA, along with other state and city agencies, would promptly pursue their rights if the federal government unlawfully withholds financial assistance or takes other illicit retaliatory measures against them for initiating this litigation. However, the future implications of these circumstances remain uncertain.