A federal appeals court on Friday invalidated the Trump administration's decision in April to withhold $73.5 million in highway funding from New York, ruling that the move went beyond the Transportation Department's legal authority.
The Transportation Department had cited an audit that found New York had been routinely issuing commercial driver licenses to foreign drivers, and used that finding to justify withholding the money after the state declined to revoke some of the licenses.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said the department's decision "runs afoul of fair notice principles, departs from the regulatory text, and underestimates the complexity of its supposedly 'common sense' requirement."
The ruling removes the administration's legal basis for withholding the funds, which have been held back since April.
