COOL. NOW ZERO OUT THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (AND A FEW OTHERS, WHILE YOU’RE AT IT): House Appropriations Subcommittee Zeroes Out California High‐​Speed Rail. “Inclusion of the anti‐​HSR provision in the budget is unlikely to kill the project on its own, but perhaps it will trigger a renewed debate about high‐​speed rail at the federal level. Such a conversation is essential because if the project continues along its current trajectory, its sponsors will ultimately require tens of billions of federal funding. And the California project is seen by advocates as the first part of a nationwide high‐​speed rail network that would require hundreds of billions in federal funding. In 2021, Representative Seth Moulton (D‑MA) introduced a bill that would have spent $205 billion of federal funds on a nationwide high‐​speed network. Had that bill passed, the total cost would likely have multiplied amid cost overruns and operating losses.”