New York City Mayor Eric Adams is reportedly set on suing the Trump administration over its revoking of more than $80 million of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding designated for migrant shelters. Republicans have scrutinized the taxpayer funds that have reportedly gone to housing migrants in luxury hotels.
Officials within the Trump administration have maintained that the tens of millions in FEMA funding should be allocated toward helping American citizens, such as those suffering from Hurricane Helene and the Los Angeles wildfires. However, New York City is fighting back, trying to regain the funding.
Muriel Goode-Trufant, Counsel for the Adams administration, wrote a letter addressing the matter. “We intend to initiate legal action by February 21, 2025,” according to the letter reported on by the New York Post. “The law Department is currently drafting litigation papers with respect to this matter.”
“As the Law Department is representing the City of New York in this matter, there is no need for an authorization for the Comptroller’s Office to engage external legal counsel,” Goode-Trufant continued, in the letter which was sent to city Comptroller Brad Lander, who is set to run against Eric Adams in the upcoming Democratic primary.
Lander explained that the lack of funding must be addressed urgently. “Given the gravity of the situation, we cannot afford to waste any more time,” he said last week. “If the Mayor would prefer to spend his days advancing President Trump’s agenda instead of fighting for New Yorkers, then the Law Department must allow me to do so.”
Lander said in another statement, “I call on the Mayor to immediately pursue legal action to ensure the tens of millions of dollars stolen by Trump and DOGE are rightfully returned. If instead Mayor Adams continues to be President Trump’s pawn, my Office will request to work in partnership with the New York City Law Department to pursue aggressive legal action.”
A spokesperson from NY City Hall had previously said that the funds from the Biden-Harris administration were not part of disaster relief grant. “The previous administration left New York City largely on its own to manage an international humanitarian crisis. At its height, we took swift emergency action to house thousands of migrants arriving in our city every week – including in completely vacant hotels – ensuring that no family slept on our streets and that the public safety of longtime New Yorkers was not compromised,” they stated.
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Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem previously took to X announcing the clawback from the reported migrant hotel funding. “I have clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels. FEMA was funding the Roosevelt Hotel that serves as a Tren de Aragua base of operations and was used to house Laken Riley’s killer. Mark my words: there will not be a single penny spent that goes against the interest and safety of the American people,” she said.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained during a recent press conference that President Trump is focused on utilizing FEMA funding to help Americans impacted by natural disasters. “[President Trump is] here for a reason, and he is focused every day on implementing his administration’s goals and sending 59 million bucks to a migrant hotel to house illegal immigrants when there are still people in North Carolina and California who have not received FEMA funding,” she said.
Watch Noem expertly maneuver a CNN interview below:
Featured image credit: Governor Kathy Hochul, Mayor Eric Adams, and MTA Chair & CEO Janno Lieber announce a Subway Safety Plan at Fulton Transit Center on Fri., February 18, 2022…(Marc A. Hermann / MTA)