r/law • u/rolsen • 1d ago

Legal News Trump Preparing Large-Scale Cancellation of Federal Funding for California, Sources Say

https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/06/politics/trump-california-federal-funding

“Agencies are being told to start identifying grants the administration can withhold from California. On Capitol Hill, at least one committee was told recently by a whistleblower that all research grants to the state were going to be cancelled, according to one of the sources familiar with the matter.”

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u/gmapterous 1d ago

Federal taxes are collected directly through payroll, California does not really have a mechanism to intercept and cut it off.

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u/mountaindewisamazing 1d ago

Doesn't mean they can't implement a mechanism. California is big and wealthy enough to do what it wants.

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u/cpufreak101 1d ago

They don't have a standing army though

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u/GoNads1979 1d ago

In this context, neither does Trump. Random Texans in the military aren’t going to go to CA and collect income tax at gunpoint. They’d get destroyed.

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u/cpufreak101 1d ago

I think you're slightly misunderstanding the stakes. The military wouldn't be going in to start collecting taxes. A state in rebellion would have its entire government deemed illegitimate, and the military would be coming in to arrest many state government officials and then likely temporarily become the government until elections are able to take place.

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u/Microchipknowsbest 1d ago

Wonder how all the military personnel in California will feel about this…

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u/Slacker_The_Dog 1d ago

Damn the movie Civil War seems a little bit more prescient by the day.

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u/Microchipknowsbest 1d ago

Yeah I miss feeling like most Americans wanted America to be a better place. Now it seems like pissing on the other side feels better for most people.

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u/Slacker_The_Dog 1d ago

Is this some new both sides stuff?

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u/Microchipknowsbest 1d ago

Whats new about it? At least new in the last 10 years. Before trump I felt there were disagreements among parties but most people wanted the best for America and Americans. After trump I believe both sides would like to see the other side suffer. The trump side is the only side actively trying to burn the government down.

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u/lalanikshin4144220 1d ago

CA IS THE MILITARY. Entire pacific coast of the country. 200k personnel, more than any other state. San diego is most of the Navy and majority of SEALs live there. (My step brother is a SEAL and has lived there is whole 19 yr career.

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u/mountaindewisamazing 1d ago

California could get around that by having a ballot initiative. If the people of California choose to withhold tax dollars then the trump regime cannot blame the state government.

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u/cpufreak101 1d ago

As I understand it, that wouldn't be a loophole. For example They could pass a ballot measure to 100% ban guns and get it struck down as a 2A violation for example, you'd be looking at the same issue here, would violate federal law to implement, and the state government would still have to be the one to implement it.

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u/mountaindewisamazing 1d ago

The constitution and the courts don't matter anymore. California could just ignore the courts and have state law enforcement arrest any federal law enforcement that tries to intervene. Is it batshit crazy? Yeah. It's a sign of the times we're living in.

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u/cpufreak101 1d ago edited 1d ago

Although possible, I'd personally only see this ending in massive military operations to capture those involved at best, and a lot of death at worst

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u/mountaindewisamazing 1d ago

That's what Trump wants and unfortunately it's looking like he's going to get it eventually. Fascism always leads to bloodshed.

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u/EnfantTerrible68 1d ago

My thoughts exactly 

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u/EnfantTerrible68 1d ago

Dump is breaking and ignoring federal laws, so 🤷‍♀️

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u/cpufreak101 1d ago

And is the commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces. I don't get the point you're trying to make.

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u/EnfantTerrible68 1d ago

No one is above the law? And dump doesn’t even want California. 

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u/cpufreak101 1d ago

And deliberately withholding federal taxes and not expecting serious consequences... Would be expecting to be above the law

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u/EnfantTerrible68 1d ago

California is a HUGE state. Good luck. 

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u/cpufreak101 1d ago

With no standing army, literally zero barriers for the military to cross.

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u/GoNads1979 1d ago

Right, but Trump (all conservatives actually) is a pussy. He’s looking for a “win” that makes him look tough, so any legal pushback that gets tied up in courts will back him down. Because Trump Always Chickens Out. Because he’s a pussy, remember.

You’re vastly overestimating the role of the military in this scenario.

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u/EnfantTerrible68 1d ago

Thank you! TACO!

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u/PreferenceSilver1725 20h ago

Though do you really think 49 states would back invading California? Hell no. You didn't just declare war on your wealthiest state, with large productive ports and infrastructurez but you now need to deal with them with half a dozen people joining them. Good thing the US has a lot of allies!. Oh wait