President Donald Trump took back $80 million in federal funding from New York City that was intended to cover some of the costs related to housing migrants. On Tuesday, City Comptroller Brad Lander’s office noticed that $80 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funding, awarded by the Biden administration and received last week, had gone missing from city bank accounts. Lander, who called the action “highway robbery,” claims the revocation may be illegal, depending on the terms of the city’s grant with FEMA.
Lander said officials in his office identified the clawback of money around 4 p.m. on Tuesday. According to The City, the grants were meant to reimburse the city for money already spent.
“This morning, my financial team shockingly uncovered that President Trump and his crony Elon Musk illegally executed a revocation of $80 million in congressionally appropriated FEMA funding from New York City’s bank accounts late yesterday afternoon,” Lander said in a statement.
“This is money that the federal government previously disbursed for shelter and services and is now missing. This highway robbery of our funds directly out of our bank account is a betrayal of everyone who calls New York City home.”
It’s unclear how the federal government accessed one of the city’s private bank accounts.
The Biden administration had promised the city $237 million in grants, a small portion of the roughly $7 billion the city has spent to address the influx of more than 200,000 migrants since 2022.
Of that $237 million, $37 million has yet to be reimbursed, while $80.5 million of the $200 million already allocated is now in contention after billionaire Elon Musk—who now leads the administration’s efforts to review federal spending—claimed without evidence in a post on X that the grant went to luxury hotels, violated the law, and defied a presidential executive order.
City Hall spokesperson Liz Garcia said the Adams administration is conducting an internal investigation into how the funds were taken back, and looking into litigation options, according to Gothamist.
Garcia also said that city officials are corresponding with the White House about returning the funds, and requested an emergency meeting with Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan to resolve the issue. According to Garcia, only $19 million of the grant was for the hotels, while the rest was for other congregate shelters, food, security, and other costs.
She also said the city has never paid “luxury hotel” rates to house migrants. According to data provided by City Hall to the City Council, NYC has spent an average of $371 per migrant household per night as of January 9, as reported by Gothamist.
“While we conduct an internal investigation into how this occurred, our office has already engaged with the White House about recouping these funds and we’ve requested an emergency meeting with FEMA to try and resolve the matter as quickly as possible,” Mayor Eric Adams said on Wednesday. “The Corporation Counsel is already exploring various litigation options.”
On Tuesday, four FEMA officials, including the agency’s chief financial officer, were terminated over NYC’s funding dispute, despite the grants being part of a two-part agreement made by the Biden administration in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 that had yet to be distributed, according to the New York Times.
The funding dispute comes just days after the U.S. Department of Justice ordered the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office to dismiss its corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams, who was charged with five federal charges of bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign donations in September.
In a memo written by U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, the Justice Department acted because the case interferes with Adams’ ability to run for re-election and to cooperate with Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts.
Bove said that the case has been postponed, and will be reviewed in November after the mayor’s electoral race to see whether prosecution should resume, according to The City.
Adams has claimed the decision clears him of any wrongdoing, but city officials and mayoral challengers worry that by not fully dropping the case, the Department of Justice has leverage over his actions as mayor. Ahead of the case dismissal, Adams reportedly met with top administration officials, ordering them not to be publicly critical of Trump.
Plus, this week the Trump administration sued the state of New York and Gov. Kathy Hochul over state immigration policies, accusing officials of prioritizing “illegal aliens over American citizens,” according to the Times. In a news conference, Attorney General Pam Bondi targeted NY’s “green light” law, which allows people in the state to get a driver’s license regardless of citizenship or legal status.
The lawsuit claims that NY state’s law is the “most egregious,” in that it requires state authorities to notify any “illegal alien when a federal immigration agency has requested his or her information.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office said it supports “deporting violent criminals who break our laws” but emphasized that the governor does not believe law-abiding individuals should be targeted.
“Here are the facts: our current laws allow federal immigration officials to access any DMV database with a judicial warrant. That’s a common-sense approach that most New Yorkers support,” Hochul said in an official statement.
“But there’s no way I’m letting federal agents, or Elon Musk’s shadowy DOGE operation, get unfettered access to the personal data of any New Yorker in the DMV system like 16-year-old kids learning to drive and other vulnerable people.
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