Newsom may veto bill giving California high-speed rail watchdog more power, sources say

California is attempting to build the nation's first bullet train, a project that's ballooned in cost and has blown through deadline after deadline for more than a decade.

Now Gov. Gavin Newsom is threatening to veto a bill containing what the project's independent watchdog calls "absolutely essential" tools for holding the High-Speed Rail Authority accountable, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions between the administration and the Legislature.

CBS California Investigates recently exposed costly missed train-procurement deadlines and reported that the project could run out of money as soon as 2027 without new financing. To provide oversight, the state created an independent watchdog in 2023: an inspector general with the power to audit contracts, investigate fraud and flag problems before they turn into bigger, more expensive ones.

That watchdog is Ben Belnap. He was appointed by Newsom. He says the state has never actually given him the tools he needs to fully do the job.

A bill meant to empower the office, Assembly Bill 1608 , authored by Assemblymember Lori Wilson, has been moving through the Legislature all year. It cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee last week and is two floor votes away from passing as written. Now, the governor's office is threatening to veto it, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations

Here's the twist: Gov. Newsom already enacted the most controversial part of the bill. Those provisions give the inspector general new authority to temporarily withhold portions of his reports that reveal security risks, fraud-detection gaps or pending litigation. Critics called them "anti-transparency."

Newsom enacted them quietly by folding them into a state budget trailer bill . Trailer bills are companion measures that ride along with the state budget on a fast track, with less public vetting than standalone legislation.

The governor is now planning to veto the remaining provisions in the bill, according to sources familiar with the discussions. That's the part that would give the inspector general the purchase authority and job classifications he says he needs to hold the High-Speed Rail Authority accountable.

To be clear, this isn't a story about whether the controversial part of AB 1608 is good policy. It's already law.

This investigation focuses on a threat made outside public view. It targets the one part of the bill with bipartisan support from lawmakers and independent watchdogs alike.

Newsom appointed the Inspector General himself. It is not clear why the administration would oppose the tools its own appointed watchdog says he needs to oversee the governor's signature project and hold High-Speed Rail accountable.

The governor's office declined to answer specific questions from CBS California Investigates, saying only, "We don't typically comment on pending legislation."

If this bill is amended in these final two weeks of session, the amendments will be public — but the reason for them won't be.