President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s “government efficiency” bureau took back millions of dollars that the federal government gave to NYC last week to house migrants — a move that City Comptroller Brad Lander called “highway robbery.”
Lander said his office found out on Wednesday morning that the Trump administration snatched back the funding, saying it was for shelter and services.
“This morning, my financial team shockingly uncovered that President Trump and his crony Elon Musk illegally executed a revocation of $80 million in congressionally appropriated FEMA funding from New York City’s bank accounts late yesterday afternoon,” the comptroller, who is also running for NYC mayor, said.
The takeback came after Musk, who is said to head up the Trump administration’s “Department of Government Efficiency,” posted on X that a “clawback demand” will be made to recoup $59 million of the money.
The @DOGE team just discovered that FEMA sent $59M LAST WEEK to luxury hotels in New York City to house illegal migrants.
Sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order.
That money is meant for American disaster relief…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 10, 2025
The maneuver also comes after FEMA fired four people for “circumventing leadership” to pay for NYC housing for migrants, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
“Effective immediately, FEMA is terminating the employment of four individuals for circumventing leadership to unilaterally make egregious payments for luxury NYC hotels for migrants,” DHS said in a statement on Feb. 11.
The firings included FEMA’s chief financial officer, two program analysts and a grant specialist — whom the agency labeled as “deep state activists.”
Liz Garcia, a spokesperson for Mayor Eric Adams, said the FEMA grant money was awarded under the Biden Administration and that an investigation will take place.
“This morning, our office learned about the federal government clawing back more than $80 million in FEMA grants applied for and awarded under the last administration but not disbursed until last week,” Garcia said. “While we conduct an internal investigation into how this occurred, our office has already engaged with the White House about recouping these funds and we’ve requested an emergency meeting with FEMA to try and resolve the matter as quickly as possible.”
She added that the corporation counsel is already exploring various litigation options.
Meanwhile, Lander doubled down on the controversy and called it a “betrayal” to the city.
“This is money that the federal government previously disbursed for shelter and services and is now missing,” he said. “This highway robbery of our funds directly out of our bank account is a betrayal of everyone who calls New York City home.”
Lander, who is running against Adams in the race for City Hall, did not shy away from commenting on the mayor’s relationship with Trump.
“New York City cannot take this lying down,” he said. “I call on the mayor to immediately pursue legal action to ensure the tens of millions of dollars stolen by Trump and DOGE are rightfully returned. If instead, Mayor Adams continues to be President Trump’s pawn, my office will request to work in partnership with the New York City Law Department to pursue aggressive legal action.”
The takeback occurred after Trump’s Department of Justice ordered the dropping of the criminal charges against Mayor Adams “without prejudice,” meaning that the federal agency could resurrect the case against the mayor at any time. The mayor’s critics fear this will make Adams beholden to carry through Trump’s agenda on immigration and other issues.
