Los Angeles Times

Can Trump take back California's high-speed rail money? A look at the political and legal battle ahead

LOS ANGELES - The Trump administration's decision to cancel a $927 million grant to California's troubled high speed rail project and claw back $2.5 billion in funds already spent has thrust the federal government into uncharted legal territory and posed an existential threat to the state's largest investment ever.

Never before, experts say, has the federal government attempted to take back such a large sum of money from California, particularly after it was spent under federal supervision.

"I have never seen anything this large," said Ron Flavin, a San Francisco consultant who advises state agencies and local governments on grants. "I have never seen anything where

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times6 min readAmerican Government
Young Voters Don't Give Biden Credit For Passing The Biggest Climate Bill In History
President Joe Biden spent his Earth Day in a national forest this year with an explicit pitch to young people: a climate jobs corps intended to excite Gen Z the way John F. Kennedy's Peace Corps inspired their grandparents. Biden took a selfie with R
Los Angeles Times3 min readAmerican Government
LZ Granderson: Trump's Racist 'Welfare' Dog Whistle Is Nonsense Just Like Reagan's
Donald Trump took his dog whistle down to Florida last weekend, where he reportedly told a room full of donors: "When you are Democrat, you start off essentially at 40% because you have civil service, you have the unions and you have welfare." He the
Los Angeles Times6 min read
A Tale Of Two Downtowns In LA: As Offices Languish, Apartments Thrive
By many measures, downtown Los Angeles’ newest apartment tower is over the top with such gilded flourishes as stone tiles from Spain lining the elevator cabs and hand-troweled Italian plaster on interior walls. Hummingbirds have somehow found the fru

Related Books & Audiobooks