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Sean Duffy: “It's been 17 years and $16 billion and no rail has been…”

Featuring: Sean Duffy, Republican | Secretary of Transportation | National

Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project

Published February 20, 2025 | Video Starts at 15:21

We're going to take questions in just a moment here, but I want to address the protesters for a moment, if I could. I think they were chanting, build the rail. It's been 17 years and $16 billion and no rail has been built. So if you want to go protest somewhere, if you want to shout at someone, go to the governor's mansion, go talk to Democrats in the legislature who have brought us this crappy project, Right? (15:21–15:27)

CLAIM

Asserts that over 17 years, $16 billion has been spent with no rail built.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Sean Duffy

“The project, if completed 400 miles from LA to San Francisco, at best, it'll cost $106 billion.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 00:17-00:31
“That's three times the original proposal for how much this project will cost to build 400 miles of track.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 00:39-00:48
“Joe Biden has promised another $4 billion to the project through the Central Valley.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 01:16-01:22
“I'm going to direct the Federal Railroad Administration, or fra, to initiate a compliance review of funding to the California High Speed…”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 01:30-01:39
“This review is going to focus on that $4 billion, and it was for two construction projects as part of the Merced to Bakersfield…”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 01:39-01:49
“There is no timeline in which you're going to have a high-speed rail that goes from LA to San Francisco.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 02:34-02:41
“It was supposed to be done in 2020, but it's not done way over budget and way over time.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 16:05-16:11
“Californians have a right to know [about the high-speed rail project].”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 17:21-17:23
“The federal government has spent 2.6 billion that was under the Obama era sent over.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 18:01-18:07
“The total thus far our numbers are 15.7 billion.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 18:07-18:11
“It's going to be 35 billion from Merced to Bakersfield.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 18:12-18:17
“There is no time frame to get a high speed rail from LA to San Francisco.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 19:39-19:44
“The project from LA to Las Vegas... appears to be on budget, on time.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 19:54-20:13
“$17 billion, a lot of money. And this is what you have for it.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 20:45-20:45
“The Federal Rail Administration makes investments all the time.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 21:50-21:55
“It's 2025. It was going to be completed in 2020 and we're nowhere.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 23:03-23:09
“The FAA has 46,000 employees. This was, I think 352 employees.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 23:27-23:35
“The employees that were laid off were temp.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 23:36-23:39
“We exempted people who work in critical safety positions like air traffic controllers, like inspectors.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 23:48-23:55
“0.8% of the workforce reduction at the FAA is going to have an impact on air travel, that is a political game.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 24:08-24:17
“We're going to pull out the money that has been allocated towards the Green New Deal.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 25:11-25:16
“The voters said they wanted this high-speed rail, 400 miles between your two biggest cities that has not been delivered.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 26:50-26:59
“No one here was responsible for building [the high-speed rail] project.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 34:57-34:57
“They want a rail project, but they should go somewhere else. To the people who are making the decisions that have wasted your money, that…”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 35:10-35:34
“They have every right to be angry, just not at us, but at Democrats, at Gavin Newsom and at the High Speed Rail Authority.”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 35:36-35:47
“We're now going to provide. Provide some aid in the sense that we're going to look at the project, look at how the money's been spent and…”
Transportation Secretary Duffy in Los Angeles talking about the High-Speed Rail project | Uploaded February 20, 2025 | 35:55-36:04