California Democrats urge feds to approve high-speed rail funding before DOGE issues 'boondoggle'

Several prominent California Democrats are calling on the US Department of Transportation to approve a $536 million grant request to move forward with the long-awaited high-speed rail network.

These funds will come from funds that have already been allocated in general “federal-state holdings.”[s] on commuter rail subsidies” in the 2021 “Bipartite Infrastructure Act” and made available through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024.

Democrats urged Secretary Pete Buttigieg to approve the funds, saying progress on the “California Phase I Corridor” is “critical to improving investment in our state's and California's transportation network.”

“The Phase 1 Corridor aims to address climate issues, promote health, improve accessibility and connectivity, and enhance economic vitality, while addressing current highway and rail issues,” the letter to the outgoing Cabinet member reads.

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Written by Sen.-elect Adam Schiff, Sen. Alex Padilla, and California Democratic Reps. Jim Costa, Zoe Lofgren and Pete Aguilar, the letter calls for the funds to go to two projects in particular: a tunnel through the Tehachapi Mountains in Southern California. and Pacheco Pass of the Diablo Mountains in Northern California.

“These investments will continue to support living wage jobs, provide opportunities for small businesses, and equally improve mobility for communities in need – including disadvantaged agricultural communities – all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Schiff and other lawmakers wrote.

“Please consider the tremendous value and tangible impact FSP-National funding will provide for the development of CAHSR beyond the Central Valley,” they told Buttigieg.

The bodies are needed, lawmakers say, to connect with other commuter rail systems including Brightline West, CalTrain, Metrolink and the Altamont Commuter Express.

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According to California Republicans, the high-speed rail project as a whole is nearly $100 billion over budget and decades behind schedule.

Trump's DOGE duo of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are not enthusiastic about the idea of ​​continuing to fund what many Republicans consider an expensive and fruitless endeavor.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., said earlier this month in his remarks on the House floor.

“I'm very happy to report that the newly created Department of Government Efficiency has succeeded in perhaps the single largest example of government waste in the history of the United States – and that's California's high-speed rail,” Kiley said.

DOGE X's official account also detailed the cost of California's high-speed rail and asked for funding in a November tweet.

Earlier this month, Ramaswamy also called the plans a “vanity project” that burned “billions of taxpayers' money with little hope of completion in the next decade.”

He said Trump “correctly” canceled $1 billion in federal funding in 2019 and lamented President Biden's pushback.

“It's time to stop wasting,” said Ramaswamy.

California's top state Senate Republican echoed the concerns of DOGE leaders.

Sen. Alex Padilla (Getty Images)

“California's 'train to nowhere' has already wasted billions of taxpayer dollars — now Biden wants all Americans to fund this protest,” state Sen. Brian W. Jones of San Diego told Fox News Digital.

“When President Trump returns to office in a few weeks, he must pay for high-speed rail. This wasteful government experiment must end once and for all,” he added.

If approved, state funds would be boosted by $134 million in state funds from California's “cap and trade” program, according to the Sacramento Bee.

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At a 2013 conference, Musk floated the concept of a “hyperloop” that was also presented in a white paper. Although it has not yet been realized, Musk said at the time that he had thought about whether there was a better way to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco than the one proposed by California.

“The proposed high-speed rail will actually be the slowest bullet train in the world and the most expensive per mile,” he said. “Isn't there anything better we can come up with?”

The world's richest man described the Hyperloop at the time as a combination of a Concorde, a railgun and an air-hockey table.