An embarrassing disclosure by federal lawyers revealed the weaknesses in the government’s bid to end the New York toll program. It could mark a turning point in the case.

“The federal government sends billions to New York — but we won’t foot the bill if Governor Hochul continues to implement an illegal toll to backfill the budget of New York’s failing transit system,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy wrote in a letter to Governor Kathy Hochul.

The Trump administration is replacing lawyers in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan after they accidentally filed an internal government letter that cast significant doubt on the Transportation Department's effort to kill New York's congestion pricing program in New York,