Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he believes the door is closed when it comes to reversing the Trump administration’s decision to claw back nearly $4 billion in federal funding for the California high-speed rail project.

“I don’t think Americans want to see — I know they don’t want to see — billions of dollars going into a project that is never built,” Duffy told Spectrum News this week during a stop in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The project has been criticized by President Donald Trump for years, and it came to a head earlier this year when Duffy ordered a compliance review of the project. In June, Drew Feeley, acting administrator of the Federal Railway Authority, announced that the conclusion of that review was that the project is in default of the terms of its federal grant awards, including missed deadlines, budget shortfalls and over representation of projected ridership. 

The project, originally approved by voters in 2008 to link Los Angeles and San Francisco, was projected to cost about $33 billion and be completed in 2020. The projected cost has since ballooned to more than $100 billion.

The two grants, made up of roughly $4 billion in taxpayer funds, have now been revoked.

Duffy said he believes that pulling the funding was the right call.

“The $4 billion that I pulled is a drop in the bucket, and the money they would have to raise themselves to do this project — they have no plan to do that,” he reasoned. “Why would we let them keep the federal taxpayers’ $4 billion? We can give that somewhere else and have a huge impact, as opposed to having it invested in a project that I don’t think is ever going to happen.”

All nine House Republicans from California, who have been speaking out against the high-speed rail project, are already suggesting a new use for that $4 billion. In a letter to Duffy this week, the group requested the department prioritize expanding a number of interstate and state routes, repairing roads damaged by the Los Angeles wildfires, and funding transportation projects that are essential to accommodating the 2028 Olympics.

“These alternative projects would bolster our water infrastructure, boost our supply chain, and reduce congestion on some of the state’s most important transportation arteries. Ensuring the connectivity of California’s vast economy will provide a much greater return on investment rather than a high-speed train to nowhere,” they wrote in a letter dated Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the Department of Transportation confirms the letter has been received and that the department “greatly appreciates the effort and hard work of the delegation to expose this train to nowhere.”

“Having terminated the two cooperative agreements with the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is reviewing next steps,” the spokesperson added.

California is now suing to stop the Trump administration from revoking the funding, calling it “yet another political stunt to punish California.”

A release from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office claimed the termination of the grant agreements is “petty, political retribution, motivated by President Trump’s personal animus toward California and the high-speed rail project, not by facts on the ground.”

“Canceling these grants without cause isn’t just wrong — it’s illegal,” said High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Choudri. “These are legally binding agreements, and the Authority has met every obligation, as confirmed by repeated federal reviews, as recently as February 2025. America’s only high-speed rail project underway is fast approaching the track-laying phase, with 171 miles under active construction and design, 15,500 jobs created, and more than 50 major structures completed. This is no time for Washington to walk away on America’s transportation future.”

That legal battle remains ongoing.

Spectrum News' Charlotte Scott contributed to this report.