DOJ accidentally files document outlining flaws with Trump administration's plan to kill NYC congestion pricing [View all]

Source: ABC News

April 24, 2025, 12:52 PM


Lawyers with the Department of Justice accidentally filed a document overnight that outlined a series of legal flaws with the Trump administration's plan to kill New York City's congestion pricing tolls. In an 11-page letter to the Department of Transportation, lawyers with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York wrote that Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy's attempt to terminate congestion pricing faces "considerable litigation risk" and is "unlikely" to be accepted by the court.

"As discussed below, there is considerable litigation risk in defending the Secretary's February 19, 2025 decision against plaintiffs' claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, that the decision was contrary to law, pretextual, procedurally arbitrary and capricious, and violated due process," the letter said. According to DOJ lawyers, both of Duffy's arguments for canceling the program -- that the tolls raise revenue rather than prevent congestion and that the program does not offer a toll-free option -- are unlikely to convince the court.

DOJ lawyers instead proposed an alternative justification to defend canceling the program, urging the Department of Justice to use regulations set by the Office of Management and Budget to say the program was canceled "as a matter of changed agency priorities." "Importantly, DOT can seek termination of the agreement pursuant to the OMB regulations in addition to, and not in place of, defending the rationale laid out in the Secretary's letter," the letter said.

In a letter to the judge overseeing the lawsuit challenging congestion pricing, DOJ lawyers on Thursday morning acknowledged the document was "plainly filed in error" and asked to permanently seal the record. They argued the internal legal guidance included in the letter is privileged and should not be considered in the ongoing lawsuit.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/doj-accidentally-files-document-nyc-congestion-pricing/story?id=121129852