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Los Angeles is coming up short $1.7 billion to deliver a “car-free” Olympic Games in 2028, and California lawmakers fear Washington isn’t going to pony up the money in time.
The city has sought $2 billion in federal money to fulfill its 2017 bid pledge to rely on public transit and dedicated transportation networks to move athletes, officials, and spectators. President Donald Trump, then in his first term, said in 2020: “We’re going to give them tremendous support.”
But so far Congress has approved more modest sums — $94.3 million in February 2026 and $139 million in March 2024. Other transportation and infrastructure funds, which Congress passed under President Joe Biden, have evaporated in Trump’s second term.
“The federal government has provided far less than they had at this point in the games preparation timing window in past US-hosted games,” Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., told Semafor, pointing to figures from the 2002 Salt Lake City Games.
About $875 million for public transportation for the 2028 Games was added recently to a government funding bill in committee, but lawmakers of both parties are skeptical that Congress will pass the bill before the midterm elections, or even this year.
“We are already behind, and if Congress struggles to pass timely appropriations bills ahead of the September 30 deadline, as has been the case in recent history, this will pose significant challenges,” Aguilar added. “It takes time to plan, install, build, and test infrastructure and security systems ahead of the games themselves.”
Weston LaBar, chair of the board of the Long Beach Economic Partnership, said local organizers had expected to tap into Biden-era clean transportation grants, including for zero-emission vehicles and transit upgrades. While some of the funds were awarded, they were never fully executed before Congress revoked unspent money last summer in the Republican tax bill.
“Instead of trying to just raise money for infrastructure projects that can have a long-term benefit, you’re also trying to fill funding gaps that you didn’t anticipate having there when the Olympics were awarded to Los Angeles,” LaBar said.
Compounding concerns, California officials say the Department of Transportation is dragging its feet.
In March, California’s congressional delegation sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy urging him to support the inclusion of $2 billion in the next White House budget, which signals the administration’s priorities.
Trump’s budget omitted the request entirely and Duffy responded to the delegation’s letter urging LA Metro to apply for funds under existing programs to meet its needs.
An aide to Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif, said several requests have stalled, including through the official channels that Duffy suggested.
“The longer this funding takes to be put in place, the less efficiently it can be spent,” the aide told Semafor. “We create safety and security vulnerabilities, and we risk the story of the games becoming one of logistical inefficiencies.”
Asked about the status of federal funding for LA28 transportation projects, the Department of Transportation directed Semafor to previous remarks Duffy has made about the Olympics. While acknowledging that he’s “had some concerns about the LA system,” Duffy rejected criticism of the administration’s approach to infrastructure funding. “For someone to say we don’t support LA as the federal government, that’s not true,” Duffy said, noting the administration provided $90 million in transit funding for the Games. California has, “not been shortchanged,” he said.
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Local officials fear the city will be left exposed if adequate federal support fails to materialize.
“We’re constantly hearing ‘don’t worry about it,’” LA City Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez said in an interview with Semafor. “That is much of what the response that we’ve been getting.”
Rodriguez said those assurances have done little to ease her concerns. She pointed to recovery efforts following the Los Angeles wildfires, where some announced aid reflected the cost of personnel and resources already deployed rather than new funding. She said she worries Olympic security funding could be structured similarly, leaving local governments with a larger share of the bill than expected.
In an April letter to LA28 organizers, Rodriguez warned that “bankruptcy cannot be the legacy of these Games,” arguing that the city still lacks sufficient protections against potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in Olympic-related expenses.
Courtesy of LA28The uncertainty is making it harder to tap private funding.
Joy Langford, a member of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California’s board who has worked on infrastructure and public-private partnership projects across the region, said the lack of clarity around federal support has made it difficult to persuade businesses to invest in the games.
“The federal funding has not come through yet. We don’t know when it’s going to come through, and that trickles down to everything else,” Langford told Semafor.
As businesses weigh whether to expand operations or pursue Olympic-related contracts, she said, some are becoming increasingly cautious. “I wouldn’t bet my last dollar, if I was a business person — which I am — on the Olympics.”
Room for Disagreement
Not every official is worried: “The 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games are America’s games and I am confident that our federal partners will step up to ensure a safe, inclusive and successful games for athletes, fans and visitors from around the world who will celebrate the unifying power of sport in Los Angeles,” said Assemblymember Tina McKinnor.