The Trump Administration continued its attacks on progressive blue state transportation policies when U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy visited L.A. Union Station this morning. Yesterday's target was congestion pricing in New York City. Today, the target is high-speed rail in California, the 800-mile long project connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco that is already under construction.
Earlier this year, Trump announced that he would order a review of California High-Speed Rail in an incoherent two-minute broadside that included made-up numbers and an assertion that hiring limousines would be cheaper.
Secretary Duffy made it official this morning, announcing a “compliance review” of the California HSR Authority (see USDOT letter). As of now, USDOT has promised a little over $4 billion for the project, including $3.1 billion awarded in 2023 by President Joe Biden. Those funds are for finishing construction of the initial 119 miles well underway in California's Central Valley. The compliance review appears to be little more than legal cover for an attempt to rescind Biden-era grants.
“You’re going to have people that love fraud, love waste, who love trains to nowhere,” Duffy shouted to be heard over pro-rail protestors chanting “build the train!” “But all of us up here?" Duffy continued, "We don’t love fraud, waste and abuse…but this a boondoggle.”
Duffy was surrounded by conservative lawmakers, who repeated the "fraud, waste and abuse" mantra and other tired descriptions like "bridges to nowhere." Several asserted that rail funding should instead go to roads.
Duffy repeatedly implied that someone - some politician and or their family members - "got rich" off CAHSR. Presumably it will be up to the staff at the Federal Railroad Administration to find or create issues in the review to corroborate his statements made today.
Secretary Duffy asserted that he is not against high-speed rail in general; he expressed that federal funding could support "wonderful" HSR projects, with "great budgets." He noted that CAHSRA funds could go to "another state." Duffy did praise the privately owned Brightline West high-speed rail, a project that will connect Las Vegas to Southern California. That 218-mile project broke ground last year.
The first response from state leadership came from Senator Scott Wiener, who just yesterday announced his own legislative efforts to speed-up permitting for high-speed rail construction. Wiener almost completely ignores Duffy in his official statement and instead urges people to follow the money because successful high-speed rail is bad for Trump’s political benefactor, Elon Musk.
"This is also a massive government handout by Trump to his Co-President Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, who is afraid that modern public transportation will undermine his business interests - including Tesla and his scam ‘Boring Company,’” Wiener writes.
"With multiple independent federal and state audits completed, every dollar is accounted for, and we stand by the progress and impact of this project. California’s high-speed rail is 171 miles under active construction, with over 50 major structures completed, 14,600 jobs created, and more than 880 small businesses engaged," wrote CAHSRA CEO Ian Choudri. "This investment has already generated $22 billion in economic impact, primarily benefiting the Central Valley."
Republicans in California have been attacking high-speed rail for nearly two decades. Last week, Republican legislators helped lay the groundwork for today’s announcement by writing a letter to the president asking for this review.
Despite the unrelenting attacks, HSR is still popular with voters. A recent poll shows the project still enjoys 54.3 percent approval by California voters, nearly matching the results of a poll done in 2022.
Wiener vowed that even if the Trump Administration does pull the funds, that California will find a way to keep the project going.
“The project is happening,” Wiener emphasized. “Sabotage from federal actors should never impede our responsibility to deliver affordable transportation for Californians.”
