{"id":863768,"date":"2025-07-20T19:12:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T00:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/20\/california-sues-trump-to-hang-onto-4-billion-of-bullet-train-funds\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T19:12:01","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T00:12:01","slug":"california-sues-trump-to-hang-onto-4-billion-of-bullet-train-funds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/07\/20\/california-sues-trump-to-hang-onto-4-billion-of-bullet-train-funds\/","title":{"rendered":"California Sues Trump To Hang Onto $4 Billion Of Bullet Train Funds"},"content":{"rendered":"
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California’s high-speed rail system is under construction in the Central Valley, but needs tens of billions of dollars to connect to San Francisco and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

California High-Speed Rail Authority<\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is suing the Trump Administration after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced his agency is clawing back $4 billion<\/a> of federal funds previously awarded for high-speed rail construction, the latest challenge for the country\u2019s costliest infrastructure project.<\/p>\n

Duffy this week said the decision to take back funds awarded by the Federal Railroad Administration during the Obama and Biden Administrations came after a compliance review that determined the California High-Speed Rail Authority \u201csimply cannot meet its obligations under the grant agreement.\u201d He also cited the state\u2019s failure to identify a sustainable source of funds to cover the full cost of connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles, estimated to be as high as $135 billion, as justification for canceling the grants.<\/p>\n

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Newsom\u2019s office said its suit alleges that the cancellation of agreements is \u201cpolitical retribution, motivated by President Trump\u2019s animus toward California and the high-speed rail project, not by facts on the ground.\u201d Currently, construction work is underway on a 119-mile section of the state\u2019s Central Valley, between the cities of Fresno and Bakersfield. Ian Choudri, the bullet train\u2019s new CEO and a rail and infrastructure veteran, is developing a new business plan intended to lower costs, accelerate construction and add private sector partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just a heartless attack on the Central Valley that will put real jobs and livelihoods on the line,\u201d Newsom said in an emailed statement. \u201cWe\u2019re suing to stop Trump from derailing America\u2019s only high-speed rail actively under construction.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his first term, Trump took back a $900 million award to the state, citing similar reasons. President Joe Biden restored the grant and provided an additional $3.1 billion for the project from funds set aside for high-speed rail in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Brightline West, a private rail project intended to connect Las Vegas to suburban Los Angeles, also got $3 billion of federal rail funds and is raising at least $9 billion more. It\u2019s doing prep work for the future line that will run through the Mojave Desert, but hasn\u2019t started heavy construction.<\/p>\n

The U.S. currently has no high-speed trains capable of hitting speeds of 200 miles per hour or more, unlike dozens of nations, including Japan, China, South Korea, France, Germany and Spain. California\u2019s project, approved by voters in 2008 with a $10 billion bond for initial construction costs, had an estimated price tag of $45 billion\u2013long before the routing had been determined and the land acquired. The slow, tedious work of purchasing hundreds of miles of property, along with extensive environmental reviews, added more than a decade to its construction timeline and caused its cost to triple.<\/p>\n

Though track hasn\u2019t been laid, construction employing more than 15,000 people is active on a 171-mile section of the future line, with over 50 bridges, overpasses and viaducts built and 60 miles of guideway completed, according to the Governor\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u201cCanceling these grants without cause isn\u2019t just wrong\u2013it\u2019s illegal,\u201d Choudri said in a statement. \u201cThese are legally binding agreements and the Authority has met every obligation, as confirmed by repeated federal reviews, as recently as February 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n

More From Forbes<\/h3>\n

Forbes<\/span>California Bullet Train At Risk As Trump Administration Opens Funding Review<\/span>By Alan Ohnsman<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>Forbes<\/span>Trump Could Derail California High-Speed Rail Project, Despite Billions Spent<\/span>By Alan Ohnsman<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>Forbes<\/span>Brightline Raising $2.5 Billion Of Private Funds For Vegas-To-L.A. Bullet Train<\/span>By Alan Ohnsman<\/span><\/small><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Alan Ohnsman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

California’s high-speed rail system is under construction in the Central Valley, but needs tens of billions of dollars to connect to San Francisco and Los Angeles. California High-Speed Rail Authority California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state is suing the Trump Administration after Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced his agency is clawing back $4 billion<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":863769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[921,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-863768","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"category-trump"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863768"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863768\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}