The Trump administration is pulling federal approval for New York City's congestion pricing program.

In a letter sent to Gov. Kathy Hochul Wednesday, U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the Federal Highway Administration would rescind its previous signoff on the tolling plan.

Duffy, in a statement, called the toll "a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners," adding that his agency would work with New York state on an “orderly termination of the tolls.”

"Commuters using the highway system to enter New York City have already financed the construction and improvement of these highways through the payment of gas taxes and other taxes. But now the toll program leaves drivers without any free highway alternative, and instead, takes more money from working people to pay for a transit system and not highways," he wrote. "It's backwards and unfair."

Duffy also said congestion pricing hurts small businesses.

"It impedes the flow of commerce into New York by increasing costs for trucks, which in turn could make goods more expensive for consumer[s]," he said. "Every American should be able to access New York City regardless of their economic means. It shouldn't be reserved for an elite few."

In a statement released after the news broke, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said it was “mystifying that after four years and 4,000 pages of federally-supervised environmental review – and barely three months after giving final approval to the Congestion Relief Program – USDOT would seek to totally reverse course.”

The MTA has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Transportation in federal court in Manhattan, claiming its move to cancel the program comes "in open disregard of a host of federal statutes and regulations, not to mention the MTA and [MTA Bridges and Tunnels'] rights under the United States Constitution."

“Today, the MTA filed papers in federal court to ensure that the highly successful program – which has already dramatically reduced congestion, bringing reduced traffic and faster travel times,  while increasing speeds for buses and emergency vehicles – will continue notwithstanding this baseless effort to snatch those benefits away from the millions of mass transit users, pedestrians and, especially, the drivers who come to the Manhattan Central Business District,” Lieber wrote. 

Reaction to the news began pouring in immediately. Read responses from local politicians and community groups here.

The FHA, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, issued its approval for the plan this past November, when President Joe Biden was still in office. 

The program officially went into effect on Jan. 5, charging drivers who enter local streets and avenues south of and including 60th Street in Manhattan a base fee of $9.

President Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of congestion pricing. During his presidential campaign last May, he vowed on social media to "terminate" the program during his first week in office. He previously characterized it as a massive, regressive tax.

In a social media post Wednesday afternoon, Trump wrote, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD.” 

“Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED,” he said. “LONG LIVE THE KING!”

Hochul appeared to respond directly to Trump’s post in her own statement soon after, saying, “We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king.” 

“Public transit is the lifeblood of New York City and critical to our economic future — as a New Yorker, like President Trump, knows very well,” her statement said, in part. “The MTA has initiated legal proceedings in the Southern District of New York to preserve this critical program. We’ll see you in court.”

We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. pic.twitter.com/PikwB5OwnM

— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) February 19, 2025

Revenue from the tolls is intended to raise billions of dollars in revenue for the city’s creaky and cash-strapped transit system, which carries some 4 million riders daily.

The tolling system has been divisive. Transit advocates and environmentalists have heralded it as an innovative step to reduce air pollution from vehicle exhaust, make streets safer for pedestrians and bikers, while speeding up traffic for vehicles that truly need to be on the road, like delivery trucks and police cars.

But the high tolls are hated by many New Yorkers who own cars, particularly those that live in the suburbs or parts of the city not well-served by the subway system.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, had fought the tolls and court and wrote a letter Trump on Inauguration Day imploring him to kill the program.

In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Murphy thanked Trump and Duffy for moving to cancel the program. 

“While I have consistently expressed openness to a form of congestion pricing that meaningfully protects the environment and does not unfairly burden hardworking New Jersey commuters, the current program lines the MTA’s pockets at the expense of New Jerseyans,” he wrote.

Hochul also had misgivings. Last June, she abruptly halted the tolling system’s planned launch, citing concerns about its impact on the local economy. The Democrat then revived the toll in November following Trump’s election, but reduced the toll for passenger vehicles from $15 to $9. Since then, she has lauded it as a win for the city and has discussed the issue multiple times with the president.

The tolling plan was approved by New York lawmakers in 2019, but stalled for years awaiting a required federal environmental review during Trump’s first term before being approved by the Biden administration. 

Similar tolling programs intended to force people onto public public transit by making driving cost-prohibitive have long existed in other global cities, including London, Stockholm, Milan and Singapore, but the system had never before been tried in the U.S.

As in other cities, New York's congestion fee varies depending on the time and the size of the vehicle. Trucks and other large automobiles pay a higher rate, and the fee goes drops to $2.25 for most cars during the quieter overnight hours.

The toll survived several lawsuits trying to halt it before its launch, including from the state of New Jersey, unionized teachers in New York City, a trucking industry group and local elected leaders in the Hudson River Valley, Long Island and northern New Jersey.