Trump administration moves to pull funding for California bullet train [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

U.S. NEWS

"This is California’s money, and we are going to fight for it," said Gov. Gavin Newsom.


Feb. 19, 2019, 9:13 PM CST
By Dennis Romero

Amid a social media feud between President Trump and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, the federal government announced its intention Tuesday to cancel nearly $1 billion in pending funding for the state's long-planned, high-speed train.

In a letter Tuesday to California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Brian P. Kelly, the U.S. Department of Transportation outlined the government's reasons for pulling funding. The state has not come up with its own promised funding, will miss a 2022 completion target and has recently reconfigured the project outside the bounds of a federal pact for funding, railroad chief Ronald L. Batory wrote.

The federal department will "de-obligate" $928,620,000 in promised cash, but California will be given a chance to argue its case, Batory said in the letter. He also said the Trump administration is "exploring all available legal options" to recover $2.5 billion in past federal grants for the project.

Newsom last week announced plans to scale back the $77 billion project. Rather than taking travelers between Los Angeles and San Francisco as originally envisioned, the train will now seek to bridge the Central Valley cities of Bakersfield and Merced.

More:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-administration-moves-pull-funding-california-bullet-train-n973396