The
Trump
administration
racked
up
yet
another
lawsuit
this
week
thanks
to
the
City
of
New
York.
It’s
the
latest
fallout
from
the
shitshow
debacle
involving
migrants
housed
at
the
Roosevelt
Hotel
in
midtown
Manhattan
under
FEMA’s
Shelter
and
Service
Programs.
On
February
10,
Elon
Musk
“discovered
that
FEMA
sent
$59M
LAST
WEEK
to
luxury
hotels
in
New
York
City
to
house
illegal
migrants.”
The
acting
director
of
FEMA,
Cameron
Hamilton,
thanked
the
DOGE
Dauphin
for
the
hot
tip,
acknowledged
that
the
money
had
been
appropriated
by
Congress
to
house
migrants
—
although
the
$156/night
rates
paid
by
the
City
could
hardly
be
called
“luxury”
—
and
promised
to
put
an
end
to
it.
Then
Homeland
Security
Secretary
Kristi
Noem
bigfooted
in
to
say
that
she
had
“clawed
back
the
full
payment
that
FEMA
deep
state
activists
unilaterally
gave
to
NYC
migrant
hotels.”
Which
she
had,
and
then
some!
In
fact,
Noem
reversed
the
entire
$80,481,861.42
payment
made
on
February
4
to
reimburse
New
York
City
under
FEMA’s
Shelter
and
Services
Program.
Under
the
SSP,
Congress
allocated
$650
million
for
DHS
to
reimburse
local
governments
that
provide
shelter
and
other
services
to
non-citizens
released
into
the
community.
The
Trump
administration
has
been
on
a
bender
canceling
grants
and
refusing
to
disburse
congressionally
allocated
funds.
But
this
time
they
went
one
better
and
stole
the
money
back
after
it
had
already
been
paid.
Aware
that
they
are
under
multiple
court
orders
barring
them
from
doing
exactly
this,
DHS
raced
to
back-formulate
a
justification.
They
first
filed
an
emergency
motion
to
Judge
John
McConnell
in
Rhode
Island,
supported
by
a
declaration
from
Hamilton,
in
which
they
pointed
to
vague
media
reports
about
the
hotel
and
asked
for
the
court’s
permission
to
end
the
grant.
They
failed
to
mention
that
they’d
already
grabbed
the
cash
at
the
time
of
filing.
But
the
judge
refused
to
play
ball,
noting
that,
if
what
they
were
doing
was
really
legal,
they
didn’t
need
his
permission.
A
week
later,
DHS
set
about
trying
to
retcon
a
justification
for
the
cash
grab.
On
February
18,
they
sent
a
“Noncompliance
Letter”
to
the
city,
referring
to
“media
reports”
of
gang
activity
at
the
Roosevelt
Hotel
and
expressing
“concern”
that
“entities
receiving
payment
under
this
program
may
be
guilty
of
encouraging
or
inducing
an
alien
to
come
to,
enter,
or
reside
in
the
United
States
in
violation
of
law.”
As
the
City
points
out
in
its
complaint,
it’s
a
truly
bizarre
allegation
regarding
a
program
specifically
designed
to
house
migrants
processed
by
DHS
and
released
with
identification
documents
pending
review.
It’s
also
not
how
any
of
this
goes.
In
grabbing
back
funds
that
were
used
for
the
purposes
Congress
intended
and
that
were
reviewed,
analyzed
and
determine
allowable
by
FEMA,
without
providing
notice
or
an
opportunity
to
be
heard,
Defendants
thumb
their
nose
entirely
at
the
most
basic
requirements
for
agency
action
under
the
Administrative
Procedure
Act,
5
U.S.C.
§
701
et
seq.
(“APA”).
The
action
must
be
set
aside
as
unlawful
because
it
was
plainly
arbitrary
and
capricious
and
contrary
to
law,
in
violation
of
5
U.S.C.
§
706(2)(A).
Further,
it
was
in
excess
of
Defendants’
statutory
authority
and
ultra
vires.
It
was
done
without
complying
with
any
of
the
procedures
set
out
in
the
governing
grant
regulations
and
terms
and
conditions.
Id.
§§
706(A),
(B),
(C).
Defendants
grabbed
back
SSP
funds
that
were
used
for
their
intended
purposes
because
Defendants
wished
to
thwart
the
Congressional
purpose
of
the
program.
In
doing
so,
Defendants
violated
the
Separation
of
Powers
of
the
United
States
Constitution.
And,
by
imposing
new,
retroactive
grant
conditions,
Defendants
violated
the
Spending
Clause.
In
short,
the
whole
thing
is
a
gobsmackingly
illegal
attempt
to
steal
congressionally-allocated
funds
in
response
to
Musk’s
outraged
tweet.
Notably,
the
defendants
include
“U.S.
Department
or
Agency
of
Unknown
Identity”
and
“JOHN
OR
JANE
DOE,
in
his
or
her
official
capacity
as
head
of
U.S.
Department
orAgency
of
Unknown
Identity”
—
a
clear
reference
to
the
DOJ’s
steadfast
refusal
to
say
who
is
in
charge
of
DOGE,
even
as
Musk
spends
all
day
vomiting
orders
to
government
workers
on
his
social
media
site.
And
so
New
York
is
now
asking
Judge
Jennifer
Rearden
for
a
TRO
and
then
permanent
injunctive
relief
ordering
the
government
to
return
the
$80
million
and
barring
it
from
stealing
any
more
cash
from
the
City’s
bank
accounts.
Oral
argument
is
set
for
next
Wednesday,
March
5.
Maybe
by
then
the
government
will
figure
out
who’s
in
charge
here.
City
of
New
York v. Trump
[Docket
via
Court
Listener]
Liz
Dye lives
in
Baltimore
where
she
produces
the
Law
and
Chaos substack and podcast.