DOJ makes last-ditch bid to stop congestion pricing in NYC

MANHATTAN (CN) — Trump administration lawyers made a final push on Wednesday to ice the congestion pricing pilot program in New York City, just over a year after it took effect last January.

But U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman seems poised to shut them down, calling some of their arguments “vexing” ahead of his impending summary judgment ruling. The Donald Trump appointee questioned the government’s claim that it has the ability to shut down previous agreements if they no longer meet the current administration’s priorities.

“That’s a very, very broad argument,” Liman noted.

The underlying case was brought last year by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which sued Trump’s Transportation Department after its head demanded an end to the program just weeks after it got off the ground.

“The [Federal Highway Administration] will contact [New York State Department of Transportation] and its project sponsors to discuss the orderly cessation of toll operations under this terminated pilot project,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote in a letter from Feb. 19, 2025.

He followed up with another letter in April, threatening to withhold federal funds and project approvals from New York unless the toll is ceased.

The government claims Duffy was well within his right to make those demands. The Federal Highway Administration’s Value Pricing Pilot Program gives local transportation agencies the ability to manage traffic with trial solutions like congestion pricing. Based on that, the government claims Duffy can lawfully choose where and when these pilot programs would be deployed.

“Pilot programs are inherently subject to being ended and terminated,” Eric Hamilton, a lawyer for the Justice Department’s civil division, told the court. “And Secretary Duffy has properly exercised his authority by noticing his termination of the pilot program.”

According to Hamilton, not even the president has the power to “enter into a pilot program of unlimited duration.”

Liman requested additional briefing before he’ll issue a written ruling. Though he repeatedly criticized Hamilton’s claim that the Secretary of Transportation has the power to rescind programs like this, but not bind them to span potentially multiple administrations.

“You want the Secretary of Transportation to have power, I think,” Liman said. “But you’ve argued to me over and over again today that the Secretary of Transportation has no power.”

The toll, which charges $9 for cars entering Manhattan south of 60th Street during peak hours, has long drawn the ire of President Donald Trump, who celebrated Duffy’s announcement last February by posting “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD” on social media.

Roberta Kaplan, who represents the MTA, made light of the post on Wednesday, jesting about the president attaching an image of him wearing a “bejeweled crown” and referring to himself as a king.

Congestion pricing’s rollout was a contentious one, but the program has steadily gained popularity since it began. In its first year, the toll raised more than $500 million, boosted air quality in Lower Manhattan and reduced traffic — accomplishments Kaplan flexed to Liman.

The judge has already shot down an earlier bid to stop the program when he granted a preliminary injunction for the MTA, which temporarily barred the government from stopping the toll. In a 109-page order, Liman wrote that the administration was “unable to overcome the myriad evidence” demonstrating that the city’s program was a lawful one.

“They do not point to a single historical source that supports their view,” Liman said of the government, adding that it doesn’t “seriously contest” any of the purported environmental, productivity, health and safety benefits.

Should he rule in the MTA’s favor this time around, the bar goes from temporary to permanent as congestion pricing stretches into its second year. The toll, set to rise to $15 by 2031, is slated to raise $1 billion annually for the city’s trains and buses.

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