Seattle, Portland, NYC sue Trump administration over threat to cut funds to 'anarchist' cities

[brooklynite]

Source: Seattle Times

Seattle, Portland and New York City are suing the Trump administration over the president’s threats to withhold federal funds from so-called “anarchist jurisdictions.”

The cities say the administration lacks the authority to unilaterally add conditions to congressionally appropriated funds. They also say U.S. Attorney General William Barr’s designation of the cities as anarchist last month, based on any factors he deemed appropriate, was arbitrary and capricious.

“The Trump administration’s political threats against Seattle and other Democratic cities are unlawful and an abuse of federal power,” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said in a statement Thursday.

Filed Thursday in federal court in Seattle, the lawsuit brought by the three cities takes aim at a Trump memo in September directing federal agencies to withhold funds to “anarchist jurisdictions” and at Barr’s subsequent designation of certain cities as anarchist.

Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-portland-nyc-sue-trump-administration-over-threat-to-cut-funds-to-anarchist-cities/

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