A letter first seen by ABC News says that Republicans in Congress want Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to explain what they call a “highly questionable” high-speed rail project in California.
The big goal of the plan is to build a long stretch of high-speed rail that will connect Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, and a few other towns. In 2008, California voters passed the initiative for the first time.
“California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) still has not completed a single segment of the system, the total estimated cost has ballooned to $128 billion and counting, and there is no expected completion date,” the letter from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is the ranking member on the Senate Commerce Committee, and Missouri Rep. Sam Graves, who is the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said.
In a May news release, the California High-Speed Rail Authority said that work is beginning on the first 171 miles of track from Merced to Bakersfield. The project as a whole has created more than 13,000 jobs across the state.
But Cruz and Graves said the project has been delayed several times and is still not fully funded. They said an extra $2.5 billion is still needed for the Merced part, which is currently being built and should be finished between 2030 and 2033.
Now, lawmakers want the Department of Transportation to give both committees a report and documents on the project’s progress. They are especially interested in a recent government grant of $3 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
“Despite evidence that continues to show that the California High Speed Rail project has critical issues indicating there is no reasonable path forward for successful completion of the project…the Biden administration continues to allocate substantial federal taxpayer dollars to this highly questionable endeavor,” they wrote.
A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation told ABC News in answer to the letter, “High-speed rail will change the way people travel and create more jobs here in America.” In California alone, these projects are already creating jobs for thousands of people, and we’re helping them. At the same time, we’re also building a pipeline of possible projects across the country that will come to life in the decades to come.
As he campaigns for re-election in 2024, President Joe Biden continues to tout the Bipartisan building Law’s investments in building projects like high-speed rail as one of his most important accomplishments. This is why GOP lawmakers made this move.
Biden signed the law into law in 2021. It allowed for spending of $1.2 trillion on transportation and infrastructure, with $550 billion set aside for new projects. Cruz and Graves both voted against the bill, even though it would have given their states billions of dollars in funds.
“Politics are still politics.” Brain Kelly, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, told ABC News in a statement, “This project has been a political football from the start.” “The work of this project has turned people who were against it into people who support it because it is creating jobs and investing in the local economy.” Our plans to bring high-speed rail to more parts of the state are likely to stay on track.
The authority said it is still looking for money to finish the first part of its project, which will connect San Francisco to Los Angeles.