Democratic Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff joined Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-San Bernardino. Jim Costa, D-Fresno; San Jose Democrat Zoe Lofgren on Friday called on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to approve $536 million for the project. In a letter to Buttigieg, they called the project “essential.”
This funding will fund design work for the first two legs of the project from Bakersfield to Palmdale (Los Angeles County) and from Gilroy to Junction Point in the Central Valley south of Chowchilla (Madera County). Specifically, the money will fund the design of a tunnel through Southern California's Tehachapi Mountains and Northern California's Pacheco Pass.
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California voters originally approved $10 billion in bond funding for the project in 2008. At the time, the project was expected to cost $33 billion and be completed by 2020. Sixteen years later, the project has significantly exceeded both estimates. Estimated costs have soared from $89 billion to $128 billion. Even under the most optimistic projections, no segment will be completed and available to riders until 2030 at the earliest.
The request for high-speed rail funding is just one of several last-minute requests California Democrats sent to the White House. Last week, the Biden administration approved Newsom's plan is to eliminate sales of gasoline-powered cars by 2035, despite the fact that even in California electric car sales are too slow to meet the goal. President-elect Trump is expected to repeal this policy, along with other federal electric vehicle mandates, soon after taking office.
President Trump selected former Republican Rep. Sean Duffy to be his transportation secretary, continuing the tradition of nominating officials from the Midwest, historically the nation's transportation hub.
Joel B. Pollack is a senior editor at Breitbart News. Breitbart News Sunday Sunday nights from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM ET (4:00 PM to 7:00 PM PT) on Sirius XM Patriot. he is the author of Agenda: What should President Trump do in his first 100 days?available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of Trumpian Virtues: Lessons and Legacy of the Donald Trump Presidencynow available on Audible. He is the recipient of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter @joelpolak.
