Federal Attorney's Memo Reveals Weakness in NYC Congestion Pricing Case

A mistakenly filed internal memo from the U.S. Attorney's Office revealed that federal attorneys believe the legal case to end New York City's congestion pricing—pursued by Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy under the Trump administration—has significant weaknesses. The memo acknowledged considerable litigation risk in defending Duffy's decision to revoke congestion pricing authorization, noting that existing case law contradicts the federal government's arguments and that the administrative record is too thin to justify the agency's abrupt reversal. The attorneys expressed doubt that Judge Lewis Liman or higher courts would accept the claim that New York's program was not a statutorily authorized 'value pricing' pilot. The accidental filing prompted the U.S. Attorney's Office to apologize and request the document be sealed, while Duffy's office criticized the error as malpractice. New York officials and transit advocates responded by reaffirming the legality and effectiveness of congestion pricing. Legal experts described the filing as a serious blunder that could further undermine the federal government's already tenuous position.