West
California Democrats urge feds to approve high-speed rail funding before DOGE nixes ‘boondoggle’
Several prominent California Democrats are calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to approve a grant application for $536 million in federal funds to move forward with the state’s long-awaited high-speed rail network.
The monies would come from funds already allocated in general to “federal-state partnership[s] for intercity passenger rail grants” through the 2021 “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law” and made available via the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024.
Democrats urged Secretary Pete Buttigieg to approve the funds, saying progress on the “California Phase I Corridor” is “essential to enhancing our nation’s and California’s strategic transportation network investments.”
“The Phase 1 Corridor aims to address climate concerns, promote health, improve access and connectivity, and boost economic vitality, while addressing current highway and rail capacity constraints,” a letter to the outgoing Cabinet member read.
BUILDING STARTS ON HIGH-SPEED RAIL LINE BETWEEN LAS VEGAS AND LOS ANGELES AREA
Drafted 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: tunneling through the Tehachapi Mountains in Southern California and through the Pacheco Pass of the Diablo Mountains in Northern California.
“These investments will continue to support living wage jobs, provide small business opportunities, and equitably enhance the mobility of communities in need – including disadvantaged agricultural communities – all while reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” Schiff and the other lawmakers wrote.
“Please consider the enormous value and meaningful impact that FSP-National grant funding will provide to advancing CAHSR beyond the Central Valley,” they told Buttigieg.
The bores are needed, the lawmakers said, to connect with other intercity passenger rail systems including the Brightline West, CalTrain, Metrolink and Altamont Commuter Express.
FLASHBACK: COMER TOUTS HUNTER BIDEN HEARING: RASKIN, SCHIFF ‘PULL STUFF OUT OF THEIR REAR’
Ongoing construction of the California bullet train project is photographed in Corcoran, California, left, and Hanford, California, right. (Getty)
According to California Republicans, the overall high-speed rail project is nearly $100 billion over budget and decades behind schedule.
Trump’s DOGE duo of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy aren’t keen on the idea of continuing to fund what many Republicans consider a costly and unfruitful endeavor.
Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., said as much earlier this month in remarks on the House floor.
“I am very happy to report that the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency has honed-in on perhaps the single greatest example of government waste in United States history – and that is California’s high-speed-rail boondoggle,” Kiley said.
The official DOGE X account also described both California’s high-speed rail expenditures and requested funding in a November tweet.
Earlier this month, Ramaswamy also called the plans a “wasteful vanity project” that burned “billions in taxpayer cash with little prospect of completion in the next decade.”
He said Trump “correctly” rescinded $1 billion in federal funding for the project in 2019 and lamented President Biden’s reversal of that move.
“Time to end the waste,” Ramaswamy said.
California’s top state Senate Republican echoed the DOGE leaders’ concerns.
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 boondoggle,” State Sen. Brian W. Jones of San Diego told Fox News Digital.
“When President Trump returns to office in a few weeks, he must defund the high-speed rail. This wasteful government experiment must end once and for all,” he added.
If approved, the federal funds will be bolstered by $134 million in state monies from California’s “cap & trade” program, according to the Sacramento Bee.
At a 2013 conference, Musk floated the idea of a “hyperloop” which was also presented in a white paper. Though it has not yet come to fruition, Musk said at the time he had thought whether there is a better way to get from Los Angeles to San Francisco than what California has proposed.
“The high-speed rail that’s being proposed would actually be the slowest bullet train in the world and the most expensive per-mile,” he said. “Isn’t there something better that we can come up with?”
The world’s richest man described Hyperloop at the time as a combination of a Concorde, a rail gun and an air-hockey table.
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Susan Han, senior producer of the public affairs program City Inside/Out at the Seattle Channel, is retiring this month after nearly two decades of covering politics and community issues in Seattle.
During her tenure, Han helped lead award-winning coverage on topics including elections, police reform, homelessness, teen sex trafficking and public health issues such as safe injection sites.
“I’m most proud of my Emmy for a fentanyl documentary produced with Brian Callanan in 2023,” Han told the Northwest Asian Weekly (NWAW). “I’m grateful for all the talented hosts and hardworking crews I’ve had the good fortune to work with, and for all the guests who said YES to coming on my shows!”
Han also co-produced Seattle Speaks, an interactive town hall series, and contributed reporting to programs including Art Zone, CityStream and Community Stories.
Colleagues and friends praised Han’s dedication and character.
Susan Han (center) with Assunta Ng (right) and Lori Matsukawa (left). Photo from Assunta Ng.
Former KING 5 anchor Lori Matsukawa said she admired Han’s generosity, recalling that in 2006, while Han was working at KCTS, she co-chaired an Asian American Journalists Association scholarship campaign with Sanjay Bhatt that surpassed its goal ahead of schedule.
“The goal was to raise $100,000 in five years. They did it in four,” Matsukawa said.
She also praised Han’s persistence in journalism.
“She has no fear approaching politicians and other leaders to appear on her program and answer to the people. Her attitude is: That’s their job,” Matsukawa said, adding that Han “has never missed a deadline in the 500-plus shows she’s done at the Seattle Channel.”
Assunta Ng, founder of the Northwest Asian Weekly, recalled Han’s consistent support during a difficult period in her personal life.
“What can I do?” Han asked Ng when Ng’s husband fell ill. Despite her busy schedule balancing work and family, Han began sending daily messages with humorous clips and cartoons to lift Ng’s spirits.
“Those cartoons often distract me from overthinking and being overwhelmed,” Ng said. “It brings me joy, laughter and surprises. Thank you, Susan, for being a special friend in my life.”
Han said she is looking forward to a break after a long career in television production, though the transition feels surreal.
“I’m still slightly incredulous at the idea of retiring before turning 60, but I’m excited to take a break after a productive and interesting career,” Han said.
Over her career, Han worked at KING 5, KCTS—now Cascade PBS—and the Seattle Channel. She covered major regional developments, including the election of Gary Locke, Washington’s first Chinese American governor, the legalization of recreational marijuana, the homelessness crisis and the local impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A graduate of the University of Washington, Han has received eight regional Emmy Awards and more than 30 national NATOA awards. Beyond her newsroom work, she has been active in community and nonprofit leadership, including involvement with the Asian American Journalists Association, local parent-teacher associations and the Bellevue School District Multimedia Curriculum Advisory Committee. She has also volunteered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
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