Here’s a cheerful development and a nice Christmas gift to taxpayers outside of California. We will not have to pay for Gavin Newsom’s multi-billion dollar high-speed rail boondoggle:

California has withdrawn a lawsuit against the Trump administration that sought to recover roughly $4 billion in federal funds pulled from the state’s long-delayed high-speed rail project, after concluding it can no longer rely on the federal government to help deliver the system.

The suit was filed after the Federal Railroad Administration began canceling federal grants for the project totaling about $4 billion, arguing the California High-Speed Rail Authority had failed to deliver on commitments amid years of delays and cost overruns.

State officials challenged the action in court, saying that the administration was violating binding grant agreements. But California has now opted to drop the case and press ahead without backing from the federal government under President Donald Trump.

Congrats to UP Senior Fellow Wendell Cox for almost single-handedly derailing this money sinkhole.

Derailed