If you filter out all the political bias and garbage spewed here, this process is totally sensical and reasonable. California asked the FAA “how long do you need to get this done”, the FAA gave them a date, and California said, “Sounds good, we’ll go with that”.
I don’t see how you can complain about this process. It’s not like they demanded it be done now. It’s not like the FAA wouldn’t give a date and said they were “studying it” indefinitely. Both of those are much more typical government, and much less rational.
In the world of cynical reality, is it likely the FAA will have it done by then? Yeah, right…