The High Speed Train to Nowhere may finally be dead. Congressman Kevin Kiley posted this to X:
The X post was a followup to a report from Julie Watts of CBS California Investigates which you can read and watch here. In part, it says: “Gov. Gavin Newsom called the federal withdrawal of funding a “political stunt to punish California,” and state Attorney General Rob Bonta promptly sued “to stop Trump’s politically motivated attack on high-speed rail.” Yet, less than six months later, California dropped the lawsuit. The rail authority offered no explanation, but said it hoped to work with the federal government some time in the future after deciding this administration “was not a reliable partner.” However, a CBS California investigation found it was the California High-Speed Rail Authority that repeatedly failed to meet its own deadlines to buy the trains — a key requirement in the federal grant agreement — then quietly dropped its lawsuit weeks after missing the new deadline it promised a federal judge it would meet.”
Total breakdown, total failure and instead of just stopping the bleeding, Newsom, Bonta, Padilla and the Democrats in total control keep lying about when it will be done (bet on never) and keep shoveling your tax dollars into the project that they fouled up from the beginning. When pols ask for tax increases, they know they are asking you-Uncle Sucker. Oh yeah, and they have the temerity to lie and blame Trump. The high-speed train to nowhere does have one destination it will reach: derailing Gavin’s presidential hopes.
Complete Timeline of Events (With help from AI):
July 2025: The U.S. Department of Transportation officially terminated $4 billion in federal grants following a 315-page compliance audit. Governor Gavin Newsom immediately filed a federal lawsuit, calling the decision a political stunt.
December 1, 2025: California missed its own court-promised deadline to finalize a train manufacturing contract, entirely undercutting its legal argument that the project was on track.
December 23, 2025: Recognizing the collapse of its legal position, the California High-Speed Rail Authority quietly dismissed the lawsuit completely.
January 22, 2026: Representative Kevin Kiley’s permanent defunding amendment was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mid-2026 (Present): The state continues to navigate the fallout. Investigative audits released in August 2026 confirmed that despite claims from state officials that they were “laying tracks,” the state has still not laid a single mile of actual high-speed rail track, and the contract line for purchasing the trains remains entirely blank.
Current Impact on the Project:
The situation remains a live, ongoing crisis for California. Because the state ceded its claims to federal money, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is currently forced to look for private investors and international backers to close a massive budget hole while relying solely on state-level pollution cap-and-invest funds to construct a heavily truncated 119-mile segment in the Central Valley.
