Dem Sen. Alex Padilla Says Trump Would Waste Billions by Cutting Calf. High Speed Rail Funding

Last week the California High Speed Rail Authority posted a video bragging about the “real progress” that’s been made with the project that’s seemingly been going on forever at this point.

California High-Speed Rail: Real Progress, Real Jobs, Real Results 🚄

✔50+ major structures complete
✔15,000+ good-paying jobs created
✔The largest clean energy transportation project in the nation

California is proving that we can still build big things in America. #BuildCA pic.twitter.com/rsnKG0wQRj

— CA High-Speed Rail 🚄💨 (@CaHSRA) May 6, 2025

Not pictured: Rails, trains or any measure of “real progress” other than billions and billions of dollars being dumped down a hole.

Originally promised LA to SF by 2020.
Now we get Bakersfield to Merced in 2033.
Palmdale to Gilroy in 2045.

We’ll all be dead by the time this thing connects LA and SF.

Just turn it into a freeway…

— Storm (@stormrobinson) May 6, 2025

The California Dems’ “the train will be completed by ____” dates are not unlike the Left’s “we’ll all be dead from climate change by _____” predictions that are constantly shifting goalposts.

But California Sen. Alex Padilla apparently sees this as a tremendous success so far and has slammed Trump and his administration for calling out the waste of taxpayer money. Not wasting more taxpayer money on this “train to nowhere” project would be a waste of taxpayer money, or something like that:

California’s high-speed rail is the most audited public works project in the country.

Trump and his admin are hellbent on killing the project. Why? Because they’d rather waste billions and lose jobs for political games.

California is leading the nation in realizing the… pic.twitter.com/koh1ISCJi1

— Senator Alex Padilla (@SenAlexPadilla) May 12, 2025

California has spent approximately $11.2–17 billion on its high-speed rail project, with no track laid.

So far, spending on California’s High-Speed Rail
Total Investment (2006–2023): The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CaHSRA) has invested approximately $11.2 billion from… pic.twitter.com/bd933KD4RF

— theRoddick (@OriginalRoddick) May 12, 2025

As usual, spending the money and doing so for as long as possible is the primary objective — the actual project and its completion isn’t really a top concern.