SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline) – California and its High-Speed Rail Authority are challenging the federal government's decision to terminate and de-obligate nearly $1 billion in federal grant money for the state's high-speed rail project, alleging the decision is a result of President Donald Trump's "overt hostility" to the state.
The state of California and California High-Speed Rail Authority filed a complaint on May 21 in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California against the U.S. Department of Transportation, The Federal Railroad Administration and others citing the Administrative Procedure Act.
The suit states the defendants terminated the grant in May after a decade of collaboration. The plaintiffs allege the defendants violated their own procedures by terminating the grant.
"Plaintiffs are informed and believe and thereupon allege that defendants’ termination decision was not based on an examination of the relevant data, and that defendants did not provide or articulate a satisfactory explanation for their action, including a rational connection between the facts found and the choice made," the suit states. "Rather, the decision was precipitated by President Trump’s overt hostility to California, its challenge to his border wall initiatives, and what he called the 'green disaster' high-speed rail project."
The plaintiff is seeking a judgment that the decision was arbitrary, capricious and not in accordance with the law, to set aside the decision and other relief deemed fit. The plaintiff is represented by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra.
U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California case number 3:19-cv-02754