U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has announced that the Federal Railroad Administration will be cutting approximately $4 billion in federal funding for California’s High-Speed Rail project. This move comes just a month after the Trump administration threatened to pull funding as part of a lengthy 315-page report issued by the Department of Transportation. The decision is the latest chapter in the long-running saga surrounding the high-speed rail project, which has faced criticism and controversy for years. It marks a major setback for the project, which was originally approved by California voters in 2008 with the goal of connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco through a high-speed rail network.

The funding cuts were justified by investigators, who determined that the California High-Speed Rail project had failed to meet the terms of its federal grant awards. The main issue highlighted was the project’s inability to deliver the early operating segment by its target year of 2033. Originally, the goal was to have the trains operational by 2020. However, delays and skyrocketing costs have pushed the projected timeline and budget into disarray. Initially expected to cost $33 billion, estimates for the completion of the project now range from $89 billion to $128 billion, raising questions about its financial viability.

The news of the funding cut was met with a strong response from President Donald Trump, who took to his social media platform, Truth Social, to express his approval of the decision. “Thanks to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, not a SINGLE penny in Federal Dollars will go towards this Newscum SCAM ever again,” Trump wrote, referring to California Governor Gavin Newsom, whom he frequently criticizes. The decision to withdraw federal funds reflects the administration’s ongoing opposition to the project, which they have repeatedly criticized as a wasteful spending endeavor.

In response, Governor Gavin Newsom sharply criticized the Trump administration’s decision, framing it as part of a broader strategy to undermine American infrastructure in favor of foreign interests. “Trump wants to hand China the future and abandon the Central Valley. We won’t let him,” Newsom said in a statement. He also accused the Trump administration of acting illegally in terminating the grant agreements. Despite the federal setback, Newsom and other state officials have emphasized that most of the funding for the rail project comes from state sources, with the state budget earmarking $1 billion annually over the next two decades to complete the project’s initial operating segment.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority has also responded to the funding cuts, emphasizing that they were prepared for this move. Board member Henry Perea stated that the Authority had been planning for such an outcome for the past six months and that the project has sufficient funding to continue operations for the next two years. Perea further stressed that the state is working with the Governor and Legislature to ensure that the project will proceed as a state-funded initiative. The High-Speed Rail Authority is confident that, despite the federal setback, the rail network can be completed through California’s own financial resources.

As for the progress on the ground, Governor Newsom pointed out that the project is far from stalled. Construction is already underway along 171 miles of rail, and more than 50 major railway structures, including bridges and overpasses, have been built. These tangible signs of progress underscore that the project is still advancing, despite the challenges it faces. Newsom remains committed to completing the rail network and insists that the state’s investment in the project will continue, regardless of federal interference. While the future of the California High-Speed Rail project remains uncertain, state leaders are determined to push ahead with their vision for high-speed rail as an integral part of California’s transportation future.