California High-Speed Rail CEO Resigns Amid Funding And Contract Scrutiny

California's high-speed rail authority is under new interim leadership after Chief Executive Officer Brian "Ian" Choudri abruptly resigned last week, just hours after the project's governing board approved a controversial, long-delayed trainset purchase that has triggered renewed scrutiny of billions in contracts and consultant spending.^[1]

The California High-Speed Rail Authority's board has installed state Department of Finance director Joe Stephenshaw as interim CEO, while the board chair is calling for an independent inspector general to probe consultant contracts and travel expenses as lawmakers and watchdogs question whether mismanagement contributed to the loss of $4 billion in federal funding and to a costlier new train deal.^[1]

On Oct. 28, the board finally approved a trainset contract that had been delayed for years as the state sparred with the Trump administration over federal grants and project benchmarks; within hours, Choudri submitted his immediate resignation, publicly citing personal and family priorities. The timing has fueled questions in Sacramento over whether new leadership will revisit decisions he championed, including the train order and the use of outside consultants who collected nearly a quarter-billion dollars over two years to advise his office.

California had once counted on $4 billion in federal high-speed rail funds tied to promises that it would meet revised milestones for buying trainsets, commitments the state made in court as it tried to stop the Trump administration from pulling the money. After the state dropped that lawsuit and then missed the new purchase deadlines, the federal funding was forfeited, forcing the rail authority to finance a smaller order of trains on its own and raising doubts about how the project will afford future expansions. The authority is now buying three wide-body trainsets from the same manufacturer it rejected in 2024, a deal that is half the original order size, carries no Buy America agreement for domestic content, and must be paid for without the lost federal money, which sharply increases the cost per train and could invite further political backlash over the project's value to California taxpayers.

State inspector general Ben Belnap has already flagged nearly $600,000 in wasteful or unallowable travel costs linked to consulting contracts, findings that emerged as four major firms were being paid close to $250 million over two years to advise Choudri and the authority on strategy, procurement, and project delivery. Those revelations, combined with the shrinking train order and the loss of federal funding, have intensified legislative pressure for a broader independent investigation into how contracts were awarded, how consultants were overseen, and whether the authority has been transparent with the public and federal partners about costs and risks. With Stephenshaw now straddling his finance role and the interim CEO position, lawmakers and advocates say the central test for the next phase of the project will be whether he and the board are willing to unwind or renegotiate the deals Choudri left behind, and to impose tighter guardrails on spending as the state's signature infrastructure project fights to maintain political support.

1. CBS News