The Trump administration’s deep and abiding hatred for New York Metropolis continues, together with their bizarre terror about mass transit. These feels have mixed right into a Voltron of silly, whereby the administration is withholding $18 billion in infrastructure assist to NYC as a result of there could be forbidden range, fairness, and inclusion in two mass transit initiatives.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy
Workplace of Administration and Price range chief Russell Vought, who actually offers White Home deputy chief of employees Stephen Miller an actual run for being one of the vital repellent and ghoulish individuals on this administration, introduced this in a one-line submit on X. He then adopted up by quoting his personal submit to make clear precisely which issues he was attacking: the Hudson River Tunnel Undertaking and the Second Avenue Subway Undertaking.
Isn’t it cool to dwell in a world the place formally proclaiming the federal authorities is yanking billions in infrastructure based mostly on racist whims occurs in little offhand posts on the world’s premier social media website for Nazis and eugenics fans?
Should you can’t determine how mass transit initiatives are secretly DEI, you’re not alone. Plainly this transfer was teed up by an interim closing rule issued Tuesday by the Division of Transportation. The rule “removes race-and sex-based presumptions of social and economic disadvantage that violate the U.S. Constitution.”
It seems to be like DOT is principally abruptly destroying the Deprived Enterprise Enterprise Program, which allowed for small, unbiased companies owned by “socially and economically disadvantaged individuals” to take part as subcontractors on federal initiatives.
Oh, properly—wouldn’t need that.
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The day after issuing the interim closing rule, DOT despatched a letter to New York Metropolis officers saying they had been underneath administrative evaluation over the 2 mass transit initiatives and withholding funds. Appears sorta arduous to right away adjust to a rule issued the day before today? Presumably, the underlying argument is that New York Metropolis has DBE contractors and due to this fact violates this model new rule.
It additionally seems to be loads like this was intentionally timed to dovetail with the shutdown, as there’s little question that will probably be leveraged to make it tough for New York Metropolis to attempt to recuperate the cash.
That is, after all, only a fig leaf, one other means for the Trump administration to assault New York Metropolis, just because they’ll. Nevertheless it’s additionally a method to assault mass transit, a factor which Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is irrationally, hilariously afraid of.
To be scrupulously truthful to Duffy, he’s not simply afraid of New York Metropolis’s subway system. He additionally wanted to exert his authority in Washington, D.C., and whine about crime and the way he’ll repair Union Station by “driving out the homelessness.”
This pants-wetting terror of subways is under no circumstances restricted to Duffy. GOP Rep. Lisa McCain went on CNN on Wednesday to declare that lastly, lastly, due to Trump occupying D.C. with Nationwide Guard troops, “My daughter could actually ride the Metro for the first time since she has been in D.C.”
Her child is 22, however okay.
This administration is deeply dedicated to attacking the thousands and thousands of Individuals who dwell in cities. New York Metropolis is a selected fixation, after all. It was solely two weeks in the past that President Donald Trump threatened to strip the Huge Apple of federal funding if Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani wins the election.
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Is that wildly unlawful for the president to do? Yep! Is it additionally … lower than authorized … to tug billions of {dollars} in funding based mostly on a rule you simply launched? Yep. Is it ridiculous that we’re being led by individuals who see mass transit as one thing nefarious, crammed with forbidden DEI? Yep.
So the now depressingly acquainted cycle of litigation begins once more, the place New York Metropolis will sue, a decrease courtroom will probably rule that no, Russell Vought and Sean Duffy can’t claw again billions of {dollars} simply because they need to, after which the Supreme Courtroom will finally say that it’s completely cool to take cash away from cities for causes it won’t clarify.
As Donald Trump’s second disastrous time period lumbers on, we’ve all seen this film too many instances.
