The state of California and its California High-Speed Rail Authority filed a complaint this week against the US Department of Transportation for de-obligating nearly $1bn previously allocated to a high-speed rail project in the California Central Valley. A Jurist report notes that, according to the complaint, California has been pursuing a high-speed rail plan since 1993 to link Los Angeles and San Francisco. Federal investment in California’s high-speed rail plan came from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), a division of the department, as early as 2010. The agreement between California and the FRA stipulated a 50% matching programme wherein for each dollar the FRA spent on the project, California would contribute one dollar of state funds. The complaint alleges that the FRA, while previously co-operative with the agreement, abruptly stopped co-operation in early 2018. The administration stopped reviewing the work or assisting in environmental clearances. Co-operation officially ceased in February 2019 when the FRA issued a letter terminating the agreement and all remaining money. The complaint hints that the termination may be related to California’s lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration, but does not fully draw this conclusion. The complaint now heads to the federal Northern District of California and will likely expect a response from the Trump administration.