Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said Thursday on Newsmax that it's "incredible" that President Donald Trump's administration has withdrawn the federal approvals for the much-maligned New York City congestion pricing plan.
"Sixty-five percent of New Yorkers said they did not want this tax, that this was unfair to the residents that I represent in the outer boroughs who now have to pay an additional toll to drive into the city center in the city in which they live," Malliotakis told "Wake Up America." "And this is significant, what President Trump did, not just for New York but the entire nation, because New York was first tier — the first in the nation — however, other cities were considering doing the same thing."
"What President Trump did, by reversing the rubber stamp of President Biden that allowed this to go forward without even a full and thorough environmental impact statement is, I think, incredible, and I'm very thankful to the president for stepping in," she continued. "You know, I first spoke to him about this in May, and he repeatedly told me that if he won the election that he would reverse Biden's decision.
"He delivered on that promise, and the people of New York, particularly my district, Staten Island, southern Brooklyn, are very thankful."
When asked if the congestion pricing plan has performed as designed since taking effect, Malliotakis said that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul "is touting a single digit, like about 7%, reduction in traffic."
"The problem is that this has shifted the traffic and the pollution and the congestion to outside of that zone, to the outer boroughs, to mostly, by the way, minority communities," she said. "So where are these environmental justice warriors who are claiming that they wanted to protect minority communities from pollution? That's not what happened here.
"There was no thought behind this. It wasn't like they were actually thinking, how do we proportionately shift traffic around the city to make it less cumbersome for people to drive into Manhattan? This was literally a cash grab."
Malliotakis then called for an initiative like the federal Department of Government Efficiency to be implemented at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to root out corruption and malfeasance at the agency.
"We need a DOGE at the MTA because it is the most mismanaged bureaucratic disaster," Malliotakis said. "It has more debt than the majority of states in this country, and it is a very poorly managed entity where projects are billions of dollars over budget, years over schedule, and Kathy Hochul allows it to continue.
"And instead of fixing it, instead of doing what the president is doing with DOGE on the federal level to find the waste, the fraud, and the abuse and make it a more efficient entity for the taxpayers, she wants to hit the taxpayer in the head with another toll — and it is wrong — costing thousands of dollars."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE – See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.