Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced that the High Speed Rail Authority is suing the Trump administration, alleging the cancellation of the rail project is politically motivated.
According to Newsom’s office, the project’s termination is rooted in “President Trump’s personal animus toward California and the high-speed rail project, not by facts on the ground. “
“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 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.”
Newsom’s office claimed the project is “actively building across 171 miles,” expanding upon its “significant progress” over the last year.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said upon pulling funding for the $4 billion high-speed rail project that Newsom and the “complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years.”
“Federal dollars are not a blank check – they come with a promise to deliver results. After over a decade of failures, [California High-Speed Rail Authority’s] mismanagement and incompetence has proven it cannot build its train to nowhere on time or on budget,” he said.
A June report found that “CHSRA does not have the capacity to deliver the full CHSR System.”
“This 2025 compliance review demonstrates that CHSRA has not learned from its mistakes and mismanagement and has therefore failed to create an organization capable of effectively and efficiently managing project delivery,” the report said.
