California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the California High-Speed Rail Authority is suing the Trump administration over the termination of $4 billion in federal grants toward the project. The lawsuit claims that the government terminated federal funds out of political spite, not due to any legitimate issue. It argues that President Donald Trump specifically targeted California because he dislikes the state.
“Trump’s termination of federal grants for California high-speed rail reeks of politics. It’s yet another political stunt to punish California,” Newsom said in a statement. “In reality, this is just a heartless attack on the Central Valley that will put real jobs and livelihoods on the line. We’re suing to stop Trump from derailing America’s only high-speed rail actively under construction.”
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Transportation secretary cited project failures for funding termination
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy formally terminated the federal funds on Wednesday, July 16, citing 16 years of failure with no completed high-speed track and escalating costs.
“This is California’s fault,” Duffy said in a statement. “Federal dollars are not a blank check — they come with a promise to deliver results. After over a decade of failures, CHSRA’s mismanagement and incompetence has proven it cannot build its train to nowhere on time or on budget. It’s time for this boondoggle to die.”
Duffy’s announcement came after several months of investigation and a comprehensive compliance review. A February report from California’s Inspector General said the Merced-to-Bakersfield section of the high-speed rail was behind schedule and $6.5 billion over budget. The review revealed that, after ten years of effort, workers had not constructed any high-speed rail track. To keep funding flowing, Newsom in May proposed extending the state’s carbon cap-and-trade auction and devoting an additional $1 billion of that revenue to the rail project.
According to Duffy, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) tried, but failed, to fix major problems with the project, leading the Trump administration to cancel support for the project.
CHSRA CEO disputes termination and progress criticism
Ian Choudri, the CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, strongly disagreed with a plan to end the funding agreements in June.
“Termination of the cooperative agreements is unwarranted and unjustified,” Choudri said in a statement. “I must also take this opportunity to dispute, in the strongest possible terms, the misleading claim that the Authority has made ‘minimal progress to advance construction,’” he added. “The Authority’s work has already reshaped the Central Valley. We have built many of the viaducts, overpasses, and underpasses on which the first 119 miles of high-speed rail track will run.”
In a post on X, Newsom said the project is entering the track-laying phase and the state “will be exploring all options to fight this illegal action.”
Newsom has noted that the California High-Speed Rail project is the only high-speed rail system currently under construction. However, it is important to acknowledge that Florida’s privately operated high-speed rail system, Brightline, has already completed construction and is now fully operational. Brightline opened its doors to passengers in January 2018 after starting construction in late 2014.
