Federal Government Concedes in Lawsuit Over Unlawful Transport Funding Conditions

The U.S. Department of Justice will not contest a court order that permanently blocks the previous administration’s attempt to impose immigration enforcement requirements on federal transportation grants. This decision, announced by Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, means the case will be fully resolved in favor of Maryland and 21 other states that challenged the previous administration’s actions. The federal government’s move to dismiss its appeal signals its acceptance of a lower court ruling that found these conditions unlawful.

The contested conditions threatened to withhold over $1 billion annually in federal funding that Maryland relies on for critical infrastructure projects and public safety initiatives. These funds are essential for maintaining roads, bridges, and public transit systems, as well as for preventing traffic accidents and responding to environmental disasters. The federal transportation grants support activities crucial to the state’s economy, public safety, and the daily lives of its residents, including providing transit for seniors and individuals with disabilities.

Maryland receives more than $1 billion each year from the U.S. Department of Transportation, funding that underpins the construction and upkeep of vital travel infrastructure. This includes the networks of roads, highways, airways, and bridges that connect communities and enable residents to commute to work and return home. Furthermore, these funds are integral to efforts aimed at preventing fatal traffic accidents, deterring drunk driving, and ensuring the restoration of infrastructure following environmental events such as fires or flooding. The press release emphasizes that the objectives of these funding programs and the criteria governing them are entirely unrelated to immigration enforcement.

The legal challenge centered on the principle that Congress, not the President, holds the authority to determine the allocation of federal funds. For decades, federal law has guaranteed funding to states like Maryland to enhance their road systems and protect users, with these funds being generated from taxes paid by citizens of Maryland and other states. Despite these established congressional mandates and constitutional limitations, the previous administration sought to assert control over federal spending by attaching these unlawful immigration enforcement conditions to transportation funding. This action was seen as a violation of fundamental principles of American governance, specifically that executive agencies must operate within the scope of authority granted by Congress and that the federal government faces significant restrictions when attempting to leverage its spending power to influence state policy.

On November 4, 2025, a district court issued a final judgment in favor of Maryland and the participating states. The court’s order permanently prohibited the previous administration from imposing these unlawful conditions and vacated them across all U.S. Department of Transportation funding programs. In its ruling, the court determined that the administration had “blatantly overstepped their statutory authority, violated the APA, and transgressed well-settled constitutional limitations on federal funding conditions.” The court concluded that the Constitution mandates the setting aside of such “lawless behavior.” This resolution means that Maryland and the other affected states will continue to receive federal transportation funding without the imposition of these immigration-related mandates.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon information from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.

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