Former Republican Congressman In Talks To Lead FTA; Congestion Pricing At Risk?

By Idy Perl

According to several sources, former Republican congressman Marc Molinaro from Hudson Valley has been in talks to lead the Federal Transit Administration. As a part of the US Department of Transportation, the FTA oversees mass transit systems across the country and distributes around $20 billion annually in funding. 

Molinaro has expressed his opposition to the new congestion toll in Manhattan and has criticized the MTA’s spending habits. 

“There is a clear path to undoing the State’s cash grab,” he recently wrote on X. “The MTA is in desperate need of reform, transparency & accountability. Hardworking NYers & New Jerseyans aren’t an ATM for this bloated bureaucracy. Safety, accountability, accessibility & efficiency first!”

Molinaro has also been critical of several MTA infrastructure projects, like the East Side Access project that brought Long Island Rail Road trains to Grand Central Terminal and cost more than $8 billion over budget.  

Molinaro has spent his entire adult life in politics, first serving as a trustee in Dutchess County at the age of 18. The former congressman’s office as well as the Trump administration have so far not commented on the possibility of him receiving the role.