This week, the Defense and Transportation Departments made news. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memorandum directing the Armed Forces to reduce projected U.S. military spending by 8% over the next five years. His memo exempted 17 areas that “may not be included by the services and components in their 8% decrease,” including funding for border enforcement. On Wednesday, the Trump Transportation Department’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) withdrew approval for New York’s Congestion Pricing Plan for vehicles entering Manhattan below 60th Street. In announcing the withdrawal, President Trump posted on his Truth Social account, “CONGESTION PRICING IS DEAD. Manhattan, and all of New York, is SAVED. LONG LIVE THE KING!” Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called New York’s congestion pricing plan “a slap in the face to working class Americans and small business owners.”
On Thursday, the Transportation Department’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) initiated a review of the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to “determine whether roughly $4 billion in taxpayer money should remain committed to the proposed project to build high-speed rail in the California Central Valley between Merced and Bakersfield.” The review will assess CHSRA’s compliance with FRA-administered grant agreements to determine whether CHSRA has fully met its obligations under the award terms. The letter warns CHSRA that the review “may result in remedial action up to and including withholding of reimbursement and termination of cooperative agreements” and “that any work completed from the date of this notice forward is at the risk of CHSRA.” In a press release announcing the review, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said: “For too long, taxpayers have subsidized the massively over-budget and delayed California High-Speed Rail project.”