Perhaps a different administration would have let things slide, but the state of CA is pretty clearly in the wrong on this one. All of that federal money was tied to specific parts of the high speed rail project. For example a lot of it was intended for connecting the HSR to Union Station in Los Angeles. If the state has no intention of doing that, it really doesn't deserve that money.
For the Central Valley HSR that is still supposedly being built, the federal money was supposed to be used as matching funds for the state's own money. Even after getting the HSIPR agreement amended to let CA spend its own money more slowly, the state didn't spend anywhere close to what it was supposed to have spent to match the federal funding.
For the Central Valley HSR that is still supposedly being built, the federal money was supposed to be used as matching funds for the state's own money. Even after getting the HSIPR agreement amended to let CA spend its own money more slowly, the state didn't spend anywhere close to what it was supposed to have spent to match the federal funding.