Updated March 03, 2025 at 16:04 PM ET
With Republicans in control of the White House and Congress, those against the G.O.P.'s direction are looking to Democratic governors to stand up to Trump's administration.
Among them is New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is currently locked in a fight with the Trump administration over the president's demand to scrap a hard-fought congestion pricing program in New York City, which began in January.
The program's goal is to reduce traffic in the most populous city in the country and raise money to upgrade its transit infrastructure by charging a $9 toll for most vehicles entering central Manhattan during rush hour. The administration says it must end by March 21.
Hochul told Morning Edition that she will "fight back hard" against the administration's demands, and added that it's up to Democratic governors to be the "firewall" as Republicans in Congress weigh slashing social safety net programs.
"We offered up an olive branch, [we said] 'We'll work with you on infrastructure. Let's redo Penn Station,'" Hochul said. "Those areas were common ground. But once you draw first blood on us, we're coming back hard. And I will be leading the resistance on policies like these where you're hurting New Yorkers directly. This is our decision, not yours."
Since Trump took office, Hochul has also had to wrestle with removing New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a political ally to Trump, who faced federal charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting a political contribution from a foreign national. In February, his charges were controversially dropped by the Department of Justice. And Hochul decided not to remove Adams, a decision many viewed as a victory for Adams and Trump.
NPR's Michel Martin and Hochul spoke about the congestion pricing program and how she plans to navigate the Trump administration moving forward.
The following excerpt has been edited for length and clarity.
Michel Martin: You met with the president to defend the congestion pricing plan. Did you think you were making any headway?
Kathy Hochul: Well, I have to be in the fight no matter what. Let me just make an observation here. The federal administration believes that states should be controlling women's bodies. They should be the ones who decide whether or not there's reproductive rights in individual states.
So, when it comes to controlling bodies, it's all about the states. When it comes to controlling traffic, they're saying New York, as a state, I can't make those decisions? I can't implement laws that were put in place by duly elected officials? So, this is where the conflict comes in and we will fight back hard.
We offered up an olive branch, [we said] 'We'll work with you on infrastructure. Let's redo Penn Station.' Those areas were common ground. But once you draw first blood on us, we're coming back hard. And I will be leading the resistance on policies like these where you're hurting New Yorkers directly. This is our decision, not yours.
Martin: Are you talking with fellow governors about a united strategy to counter initiatives like this, where federal funding is being threatened? Is there some sort of coherent strategy among all of you?
Hochul: There's many conversations, but each state has its own fight to take. But there's something that's overarching, which is cuts to Medicaid. Every single state, based on what the Republicans in the House voted on just a few days ago, is devastating to our areas, our rural hospitals and a place like St Mary's Health Care, where I visited yesterday with Congresswoman Grace Meng and Congressman Greg Meeks to talk about how these medically challenged kids, the sickest of the sick, are going to lose Medicaid if the Republicans from New York and elsewhere have their way.
And I came out strong against them and I said, 'How dare you do something that's going to hurt these little children? Come here yourselves. Look them in the eyes, look at their parent's eyes and see the suffering and tell them that you're willing to cut a program that keeps their babies alive?'
So, this is where Democratic governors, we know how strong we need to be. And this moment calls for all of us to be the firewall, to stand up against this destruction of policies that are helping people and have been in place for decades.
Martin: But is that your primary mode of resistance to call attention to the suffering that will ensue? Or are there other strategies?
Hochul: Oh, no. There's many ways. We are in litigation since day one. Our attorney general, Tish James and I work closely together. And much of it starts in court and we were able to successfully work together in litigation to at least temporarily stop a lot of the firings.
Martin: There are a number of lawsuits all around the country. But some of them have been successful in instituting temporary restraining orders and some of them have not. So what then, if these firings are already taking place, what then?
Hochul: There's not a lot of great options. We have a Republican White House, a Republican Senate and a Republican House of Representatives. But elections come around very quickly. And it is our job to fight back in court, resist the way we are on congestion pricing, and each individual policy demands a different response. But overall, this changes in 2026.
Destinee Adams contributed.
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