Monday Headlines: Take ’Em To Court Edition

State Attorney General Letitia James is still digging into her President Trump-induced remit of regularly suing the federal government because of its repeated attempts to screw with New York.

James and Gov. Hochul sued the Trump administration on Friday, and this time, the impetus was $73 milllion in highway funding yanked by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. He was following up on threats made to stop New York from issuing commercial driver’s licenses to immigrants, and could potentially threaten another $147 million in the future. The funds were earmarked for repairs, upgrades and safety improvements.

“New Yorkers depend on safe, reliable roads and bridges to get to work, take their kids to school and keep our economy moving. The administration cannot promise funding to our state and then abruptly yank it away,” James said in a statement. “By cancelling this funding, the federal government is putting jobs and communities at risk.”

James argues that the state’s issuing of driver’s licenses is in line with federal guidelines and the government’s actions are purely political. After high-profile crashes, preventing immigrant truckers from operating has become a new line of attack for the Trump Administration, which is still pursuing a mass deportation plan of immigrants throughout the country, which has often led to the detention of legal citizens and political violence.

But in a statement, Duffy claimed that the removed funding was about protecting the public.

“My message to New York’s far left leadership is clear: families must be prioritized on American roads,” Duffy said. 

More news:

• Car insurance, which Streetsblog has led coverage on, is still the top issue in state budget negotiations and shocker: Insurance companies still won’t commit to lowering rates in return for Hochul’s rollback on rights. (The Buffalo News)
• Gov. Hochul, as expected, has been a tough negotiator throughout, even as lawmakers say they want proof that her plan will create savings. (State of Politics)
• And calls to reform the opaque and lengthy state budget process to be more transparent and fiscal-focused are reaching a fever pitch. (The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle)
• An appeals court ruled Buffalo Comptroller Barbara Miller-Williams needed to issue bonds to fund capital projects in the city after she’d refused to do so in consecutive fiscal years, citing the city’s growing deficit. (BTPM)
• A senior citizen was hit by an Amtrak train in Rhinebeck. (The Times Union)
• Hijacking the Working Families Party line isn’t reserved solely for Hudson Valley conservatives. (The Times Union)
• Carm Basile, the former head of the Capitol District Transportation Authority, passed away. (WAMC)
• New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is trying to build a less car-dependent New York City. (Newsday)
• Progressive South Asian networks are turning their backs on Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar (D-Queens) as she runs for re-election. (The New York Times)
• New York Republicans are not simply going along with the plan after Trump endorsed Anthony Constantino in a North Country Republican primary. (Politico New York)
• The Daily News editorial board said that Speaker Carl Heastie “needs to get out the way” of a bill “that is sure to save lives.”
• A day earlier, New York’s Hometown Paper published an op-ed from New York City DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn and Health and Hospitals CEO Mitchell Katz that did not name Heastie, but pointed out that proposals to rein in reckless drivers are “being advanced by both Gov. Hochul and the state Senate.” As a reminder, Flynn and Katz said that a vehicle with more than 20 violations “is five times more likely” to get into a serious crash.
• State officials in New York and New Jersey are asking FIFA to grift us all a little less. (Gothamist)
• It took a guy from Salt Lake City to teach the New York Times a lesson about car dependency (scroll down to the third letter).
• Mother truckers! (NY Times)