California’s high -speed rail authority continued the Trump administration on Thursday Cancellation of billions of dollars in federal funding.
The trial, submitted to the American district district court of California by the state of Atty. General Rob Bonta, one day, comes after the Federal Railroad Administration fired $ 4 billion from the project intended for construction in the Central Valley. The prosecution seeks declaratory and injunctive relief and questions the legality of the decision.
The trial calls for the actions of the “arbitrary and capricious administration, an abuse of discretionary power and unlike the law, and threatens to cause significant economic damage in the central valley, the State and the Nation”. He appoints the secretary of the Ministry of Transport, Sean Duffy and the acting administrator of the FRA, Drew Feeley as defendants and details the “personal animus” of President Trump towards the project and long -standing criticism. Trump had previously removed train funds during his first mandate.
The prosecution calls for the president’s previous declarations on the project budget as false. The project is by the way $ 100 billion on the budget of his initial proposal of $ 33 billion. Trump previously said it was “hundreds of billions of dollars” more.
“The end by Trump of federal subsidies for the Californian high speed rail poses the potatoes of politics.” Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement on Thursday. “It is still another political blow to punish California. In reality, it is only a heartless attack against the central valley which will put real jobs and livelihoods in play. We are continuing to prevent Trump from derailing the only high -speed rail actively under construction. ”
The quick train to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles was initially completed in 2020. But the whole route was authorized for the environment last year, no part of the line was completed and the construction was only in the central valley. The Trump administration launched an examination of compliance in February after republican legislators called for an investigation into the project and demanded that it be funded.
The 310 -page examination found important failures in the project, citing budget deficits and missed deadlines in its evaluation, and found “no viable path”. In two letters contesting the conclusions, Ian Choudri, Managing Director of California High-Speed Rail Authority, said the examination was filled with inaccuracies that distorted the progress of the project.
At the beginning of July, Choudri asked that the Federal Railroad Administration delays its decision and had asked for another meeting. Less than two weeks later, the Trump administration rather canceled the funds.
