A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily barred the Trump administration from cutting funding from the MTA and New York state over their repeated refusals to shut down congestion pricing.
The ruling from the U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan federal court came one day before Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had warned that the federal government could begin implementing “compliance actions” to delay approvals or withhold funding on key projects in New York state.
Liman spoke out in favor of state sovereignty before issuing a temporary restraining order that, until June 9, is supposed to stop the Trump administration from engaging in any punitive actions against the Manhattan vehicle-tolling program that the feds have repeatedly tried to terminate.
Liman’s ruling, which warned of the state suffering “irreparable harm” without the temporary order being granted, effectively keeps congestion pricing in place, despite numerous shutdown attempts from Washington.
“Is there going to be rule of law in this country so that people launch public works projects without the rug being pulled out from under their feet?” Liman mused in court shortly before issuing the order.
The MTA sued Duffy, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration in February immediately after Trump ordered the March shutdown of tolls south of 60th Street in Manhattan.
Multiple shutdown dates have since passed, with Gov. Kathy Hochul and MTA officials vowing that the tolling system will stay on, barring a court order — while Trump and the feds have continued to trash the transit system.
Roberta Kaplan, a lawyer for the MTA, warned in court Tuesday that the federal government’s attempts to change its mind on policies such as congestion pricing would amount to “a recipe for chaos” leading to an “eternal fog of uncertainty.”
“One of the things that a lot of people have been put off by is the idea that the federal government is going to step in and tell New York City how to deal with its traffic problem,” Janno Lieber, the MTA chairperson and chief executive, said after the hearing in Lower Manhattan. “That seems a little crazy.”
Hochul called Liman’s order “a massive victory for New York commuters.”
“We need to make the massive investments necessary to support our transit system and prevent it from falling into disarray and disrepair,” she said in a statement. “Congestion pricing is the right solution to get us there.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) attends a rally outside Manhattan federal court in the case against the government’s attempts to kill congestion pricing, May 27, 2025. Credit: Alex Krales/THE CITY
The MTA and transportation and environmental advocates have repeatedly touted the initial gains from the vehicle-tolling program — including speedier bus service and a steep drop in honking complaints — since its January launch.
Known officially as the Central Business District Tolling Program, the tolls are designed to help the MTA raise money for upgrades to the transit system, while also reducing the worst congestion in the country.
“I think this is a very good day for transit riders,” said Danny Pearlstein, policy director for Riders Alliance, a transit advocacy organization after the judge’s ruling. “Bus riders are continuing to see previous time saved, we’re seeing more frequent bus service and the MTA is raising the money it needs to make stations accessible, make trains reliable and buy new train cars to replace the hot ones in the summer.”
Before the court appearance, some elected officials warned that the Trump administration’s efforts are a heavy-handed move against state sovereignty
“New York has the right to govern itself, to implement policies that improve the lives of its residents and to make decisions that benefit our infrastructure and our economy,” U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler said in front of the federal courthouse.
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