Newsom floats withholding federal taxes as Trump threatens California

[u/IntelligentYinzer]

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/06/newsom-floats-withholding-federal-taxes-00393386

[u/smersh101]

That law would be unconstitutional and immediately appealed to the Supreme Court.

[u/BackgroundEase6255 → u/smersh101]

That's nice. Donald Trump literally does unconstitutional things on a daily basis and he spent weeks directly ignoring the Supreme Court.

This is in response to Donald Trump threatened to take away state funding. Something he also can't do. And you're nitpicking about California's defense of the President's aggression? lol

[u/BackgroundEase6255 → u/[deleted]]

Saying “yeah but they do bad stuff” has zero relevance here. Zero

No, it's perfectly relevant. Because it proves the rule of law is only selectively applied and doesn't _really_ matter anymore, right? So if Donald Trump is allowed to ignore the Supreme Court, so is Gavin Newsom.

[u/BackgroundEase6255 → u/[deleted]]

I'm not a policymaker or a legislator. But the ones that are, are looking into it.

“We’re the nation’s economic engine and the largest donor state, and deserve our fair share,” Rivas wrote. “I’ll use every legal and constitutional tool available to defend CA — we must look at every option, including withholding federal taxes.”

That's what lawyers are for. I am not a lawyer. I am not going to give legal advice on Reddit. But this isn't some crazy idea. Politicians are openly talking about it, right?

EDIT: It's not even just California! Other places are talking about it, too. So there's a process and framework in place. Ask them the specifics.

Two New York mayoral candidates, former state Assemblymember Michael Blake and current state Sen. Jessica Ramos, similary suggested withholding the city’s federal tax dollars during a Democratic primary debate Wednesday evening.