Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy—a former reality TV star and Fox host—was booed at an appearance in California, where he announced that the Department of Transportation is considering changing its stance on the high-speed rail project to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Duffy said that $4 billion in federal funding for the project that was approved when his predecessor, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, was in office may be withheld in order to conduct a “compliance review.” He said that he and the president believe that the project is rife with fraudulent spending, something the administration has accused many programs it opposes of.

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“President Trump has thought about this project, he’s talked about this project, and I think he was kind when he said that this project has been mismanaged,” Duffy said.

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People then started booing Duffy, and then they started chanting, “Build the rail! Build the rail!”

Later, they chanted, “We pay taxes! We want trains!”

Some of the protestors held up signs that said, “CA has no king,” which is a possible reference to Donald Trump’s claim that he is “the king,” and “Don’t delay our train.”

Duffy then started yelling to blame California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and called the project a “boondoggle.”

The project has been in the works for decades. In 2008, voters approved $10 billion for the high-speed rail project to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles. According to KABC, the project was supposed to cost $33 billion and be completed by 2020, but it is now expected to cost $106 billion, with only part of it completed by 2033.

In his first term, Trump canceled $1 billion for the rail project. The Biden administration restored that funding and allocated $3.3 billion more.

Duffy acknowledged “the federal promises that were made by the last administration” but said that he wants “to be responsible for the tax dollars that are spent from the federal government.”

“With multiple independent federal and state audits completed, every dollar is accounted for, and we stand by the progress and impact of this project,” said High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri.

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