Unleash Prosperity senior fellow Wendell Cox discusses the Trump administration pulling $4 billion in federal funds for California’s high-speed rail venture on ‘The Backside Line.’
California dropped its lawsuit in opposition to the Trump administration after it pulled roughly $4 billion in federal funding for the state’s high-speed rail venture.
Court docket information present that California Lawyer Basic Rob Bonta’s workplace filed a discover on Dec. 23 voluntarily dismissing the lawsuit with out prejudice on behalf of the California Excessive-Velocity Rail Authority (CHSRA), which had been in search of to have the federal funding reinstated.
“This motion displays the State’s evaluation that the federal authorities shouldn’t be a dependable, constructive, or reliable companion in advancing high-speed rail in California,” an authority spokesperson mentioned in a press release to Fox Information Digital.
“The Federal Railroad Administration said that each one work carried out by the Authority – whether or not undertaken as a part of cooperative agreements or in any other case – stays ‘in danger’ and should not obtain funding. Mixed with the Administration’s persistent lack of good-faith engagement, this made clear that the federal authorities is unlikely to uphold its commitments to California. Consequently, the State has opted to maneuver ahead with out the Trump administration. We remorse that they won’t share in California’s success,” the spokesperson added.
HIGH-SPEED RAIL ISN’T CALIFORNIA’S ONLY EXPENSIVE BOONDOGGLE
Work continues on the California Excessive-Velocity Rail Hanford Viaduct in Hanford, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2024. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Occasions through Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy introduced in July that he was pulling the plug on the long-delayed venture, calling it a “boondoggle.”
“That is California’s fault. Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years. Federal {dollars} are usually not a clean examine — they arrive with a promise to ship outcomes. After over a decade of failures, CHSRA’s mismanagement and incompetence has confirmed it can not construct its prepare to nowhere on time or on finances,” mentioned Duffy.
President Donald Trump echoed Duffy’s sentiment on the time, calling the venture a “excessive velocity prepare to nowhere.”
In a letter to the CHSRA, the Federal Railroad Administration mentioned it was pulling federal funding, roughly $4 billion in commitments, after concluding the venture couldn’t be delivered as promised.
Work continues on the California Excessive-Velocity Rail Hanford Viaduct in Hanford, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2024. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Occasions through Getty Pictures / Getty Pictures)
The company cited mounting delays and ballooning prices, together with main change orders, saying substantial federal funds had already been spent regardless of the authority’s failure to fulfill key milestones.
IT’S TIME FOR NEWSOM TO PULL THE BRAKE ON CALIFORNIA’S $128 BILLION GHOST TRAIN
CHSRA launched a proper course of on Dec. 19 to appeal to non-public buyers and builders by summer time 2026 as a part of efforts to ship the high-speed rail venture “quicker, smarter and extra economically.”
“Curiosity from the non-public sector in investing in California’s high-speed rail venture is powerful and continues to develop,” mentioned Ian Choudri, the CEO of the CHSRA.
FOX Enterprise correspondent Max Gorden discusses California leaders’ efforts to assemble a high-speed rail system on ‘Varney & Co.’
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“In the present day’s procurement formalizes efforts to companion with non-public buyers and builders, with the shared purpose of delivering California’s transformational program quicker, smarter, and extra economically,” he mentioned. “By leveraging non-public sector innovation and finest practices in opposition to robust, secure state funding, we will maximize the worth of California’s funding and speed up supply of high-speed infrastructure all through the state.”
In a press launch, CHSRA mentioned 171 miles of the venture are underneath design and development between Merced and Bakersfield, with almost 80 miles of guideway full and dozens of main buildings absolutely accomplished.
An authority spokesperson advised Fox Information Digital the lack of federal funding won’t derail the venture or development as a result of a lot of the funding comes from the state by the voter-approved Proposition 1A and the Cap-and-Make investments program. The spokesperson mentioned federal {dollars} account for about 18% of whole program expenditures and that the state is transferring ahead with out them.
