California High-Speed Rail's CEO resigned. Will new leadership investigate the contracts he left behind?
Summary
California High-Speed Rail CEO Ian Choudri resigned on Oct. 28, and the board appointed state Finance Director Joe Stephenshaw as interim CEO the next day. The leadership change followed reports about consultant spending and contracting, while the project faces a funding shortfall after California missed a train-purchase deadline tied to $4 billion in federal funding.Key Facts
- Choudri said he resigned immediately because of personal and family priorities.
- The board chair called for an independent inspector general investigation after reports about consultant spending and contracts.
- The authority had paid four major consulting firms nearly a quarter-billion dollars over two years for advice to the CEO and his team, according to the article.
- The state inspector general identified nearly $600,000 in travel expenses as wasteful or unallowable, including luxury rideshares and trips to entertainment and other destinations.
- California missed a 2025 deadline to buy trains that it had promised to meet in court, then dropped its lawsuit over the federal funding.
- The Trump administration withdrew $4 billion in federal funding after an earlier missed train-purchase milestone and later spent the money elsewhere.
- On Oct. 28, the authority's board approved a contract for three trains, half the order previously planned; the trains are to be manufactured in Germany without a Buy America agreement.
- The inspector general warned that the rail project could run out of money by the end of 2027 without new financing.
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