(Reuters) -A judge on Wednesday blocked the U.S. Transportation Department from withholding federal funding from New York as the Trump administration seeks to kill Manhattan's congestion pricing program. U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman, who a day earlier had issued a temporary restraining order, issued a preliminary injunction preventing the federal government from withholding approval of or funding for New York projects. Liman said in his 109-page opinion that the Transportation Department had "challenged Plaintiffs to a game of chicken," saying New York could either kill the program or "else may brace for impact and prepare to suffer the effects" of government compliance measures. (Reporting by David Shepardson; and Leslie Adler)
