Legal Standoff Over Federal Funding for California High-Speed Rail Heats up

A U.S. district judge denied the Trump administration’s request to throw out a July lawsuit brought by the California High-Speed Rail Authority over the cancellation of federal funds for the LA-to-San Francisco train project, setting the stage for a continued legal battle.

As Matthew Robinson explains in Newsweek, CAHSR alleged that the funding cuts were an “arbitrary and capricious abuse of authority” and threaten to “wreak significant economic damage on the Central Valley, the state, and the nation.” The administration cancelled over $4 billion in federal funding, with President Trump calling the project a “train to nowhere.”

According to Robinson, “Following Drozd’s ruling, California's lawsuit to restore more than $4 billion in federal funds will continue in the district court. If the court sides with California and rules the grant cancellations were unlawful, the federal government could be required to reinstate funding.”