The Trump administration has canceled billions of dollars in funding for California\u2019s high-speed rail project after the state agency rejected the federal government\u2019s assessment of the project\u2019s failings.<\/p>\n
The Federal Railroad Administration pulled $4 billion in funding on Wednesday that was intended for construction in the Central Valley, according to a letter that acting FRA Administrator Drew Feeley sent to the high-speed rail project\u2019s chief executive, Ian Choudri.<\/p>\n
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has also asked the Federal Railroad Administration to review other grants related to the project. The agency said it will consult with the Department of Justice on potentially clawing back other funds.<\/p>\n
Gov. Gavin Newsom and Choudri questioned the legality of the administration\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrump wants to hand China the future and abandon the Central Valley. We won\u2019t let him,\u201d Newsom said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cWith projects like the Texas high-speed rail failing to take off, we are miles ahead of others. We\u2019re now in the track-laying phase and building America\u2019s only high-speed rail. California is putting all options on the table to fight this illegal action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Choudri said that the funding commitments were \u201clegally binding agreements\u201d and that the high-speed rail authority has met its obligations.<\/p>\n
Duffy blamed state leaders for the \u201cmismanagement\u201d of plans for the train.<\/p>\n
\u201cGovernor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years. Federal dollars are not a blank check \u2014 they come with a promise to deliver results. After over a decade of failures, [the California High-Speed Rail Authority\u2019s] mismanagement and incompetence has proven it cannot build its train to nowhere on time or on budget,\u201d Duffy said in a statement Wednesday. \u201cIt\u2019s time for this boondoggle to die.\u201d<\/p>\n
On X, Duffy said that Newsom and California \u201care the definition of government incompetence and possibly corruption.\u201d In response, Newsom said he \u201cwon\u2019t be taking advice from the guy who can\u2019t keep planes in the sky.\u201d <\/p>\n
President Trump, a vocal critic of the project who has vowed to defund it, said the decision to pull funding saves taxpayers money.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am thrilled to announce that I have officially freed you from funding California\u2019s disastrously overpriced \u2018high speed train to nowhere,\u2019\u201d Trump wrote on social media. \u201cThe railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will. This project was severely overpriced, overregulated and never delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n
The high-speed rail project was supposed to be completed by 2020 but is decades off schedule and about $100 billion over budget from its original proposal of $33 billion. No part of the line from Los Angeles to San Francisco has been completed and construction has so far been confined to the Central Valley.<\/p>\n