Second Circuit Rules Transportation Department Unlawfully Withheld $73 Million in Highway Funds From New York

The Second Circuit blocked the Department of Transportation's move to withhold more than $73 million in federal highway funding from New York, Courthouse News reports. Writing for the panel, Judge Allison Nathan found the agency tried to impose stricter standards on noncitizen truckers "out of regulatory silence," and that its position "runs afoul of fair notice principles" and departs from the regulatory text. The department had said New York unlawfully refused to cancel certain immigrants' commercial driver's licenses, and sought to limit license validity to the length of drivers' other documentation. Judge Matthew Schwartz agreed with the judgment but wrote separately that the majority went too far. A department spokesperson said the agency had "put a stop to the madness to keep the driving public safe." Gov. Kathy Hochul had earlier called the cuts "political payback." Her office did not immediately respond Friday.