It’s debatable that President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency is firing too many people at agencies such as the Department of the Interior and the Food and Drug Administration. But no government entity has earned the scrutiny of DOGE more than the government of California and its white elephant high-speed rail project.

First approved by California voters over 15 years ago, the California High-Speed Rail Authority was given $10 billion in state bond money to build 380 miles of track between San Francisco and Los Angeles for a total cost of $33 billion. CHSRA was to obtain the $23 billion balance needed for the project from the federal government and private investors.