Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the California High Speed Rail Authority is suing the Trump administration for pulling $4 billion for the state’s high-speed rail project.
The lawsuit claims that termination of the agreements is “petty, political retribution” motivated by President Donald Trump’s “personal animus” toward California and the high-speed rail project.
“Trump’s termination of federal grants for California high-speed rail reeks of politics. It’s yet another political stunt to punish California,” said Newsom 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.”
The High Speed Rail Authority said the Federal Railroad Administration made an abrupt decision to end the funding agreements. The federal government should have collaborated with the authority to address concerns over the long-delayed project, the suit alleges.
The project’s price tag exceeds $100 billion, more than triple its estimated cost in 2008, when voters approved a bond to help pay for it. The Trump administration announced its final decision to pull the funds earlier this week. Authority CEO Ian Choudri called the move illegal.
“This is no time for Washington to walk away on America’s transportation future,” he said in a statement.
But U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the authority had proven it could not build the bullet train on time or on budget.
“It’s time for this boondoggle to die,” he said earlier this week. “President Trump and I will always fight to ensure your tax dollars only go to projects that accomplish great, big, beautiful things.”
The U.S. Transportation Department and Federal Railroad Administration did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
