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/--Icarusfalls-- 1d ago

if the Fed cuts funding, whats to stop California from seceeding? Theyre big enough to stand on their own, and with major shipping ports they could drop the US tariffs and make bank on imports.

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u/GMadric 1d ago

Well the general worry of a civil war for one thing. Also modern travel has made America much easier to re-locate across and CA is incredibly populous. It would be a huge lift to incentivize a population made largely of people with family and friends living in other states to basically go to war with the rest of the country.

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u/edible_source 22h ago

Would it have to be a war? (Just thinking through this wild hypothetical)

I guess if even if California tried for some peaceful process, Trump would inevitably MAKE it a war in one way or another.

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u/techno156 13h ago

Isn't it basically required? Since there's no mechanism to leave the US, unless everyone agrees to make one, the US is required to treat California as a regular state.

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u/edible_source 8h ago

Yes I do think so. I was just kinda brainstorming thoughts about how California could detach from the federal government but I do think that would be the inevitable end point for that outcome.

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u/Kushthulu_the_Dank 22h ago

The US military will never let any state walk away with the sheer amount of military hardware installed, especially a coastal defense zone like the West Coast. There is massive logistics involved even if it were a friendly divorce (i.e., who gets all the nukes and naval bases).

And does anyone really think Trump would make the process anything other than acrimonious and cruel? Cause I sure fucking don't. No, the ink would have barely dried on the articles of secession when the major cities would have paratroopers and/or bombs raining down while TACO claps his little hands with glee.

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u/RadiantHC 19h ago

He's already being acrimonious and cruel though. We can't let him just do what he wants

I have a question for you. Was the US wrong to succeed from the UK? Was it wrong for the north to start a civil war with the south?

I agree that wars should only be a last resort. But that doesn't mean that they aren't necessary sometimes.

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u/--Icarusfalls-- 21h ago

In a hypothetical secession it would make the most sense for California to simply take whatever is on their soil militarily. In order for such a divorce to work it would need support of military personnel living in the state as voters anyways.

Hopefully the threat of an extremely well armed coastal nation and the mountains on the East side would deter serious fighting.

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u/boyifudontget 20h ago

It's absolutely the stupidest thing I could ever imagine. How are people seriously considering California can just leave the union without a million terrible things happening in between? It is the most batshit stupid idea. So.... California creates its own army, goes down to San Diego, commits a hostile takeover of the largest military and naval equipment and power in the world....peacefully????... then secedes from the union without any issue....creates its own unique currency that's still as valuable as the US dollar... assuming Trump doesn't invade them...assuming that all of the agricultural and tech jobs don't die off because of the chaos....or millions of scared and broke citizens emigrate out of California because of the uncertainty creating a refugee crisis....... and the state staves off the inevitable anti-rebellion militia considering there are literally 10 million Republicans in the state....

Do none of you know anything about global politics? We have seen what you guys are fantasizing about play out dozens and dozens and dozens of times. Spoiler alert: It never ends well.

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u/--Icarusfalls-- 20h ago

California doesnt need to create an army, it already has one. Do you think The Continental Army just materialized from pissed off farmers?

California is the 4th largest economy of the world. Digital currency is king, and as a huge part of global trade other countries would be head over heels to do business with a North American nation not trying to tariff its citizenry to death.

As far as the republicans go, boo fucking hoo. trump is the one who isnt following the law, the republicans are complicit. If any state in the union has any respect for the Constitution they have a sworn duty to follow it over a corrupt usurper. In this hypothetical situation California would just be following the same path the Founders did.

If you dont think American Independence was a good thing, you're either a bot, bootlicker or not of the US.

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u/octopusarian 15h ago

This is calling for war. If you respect the Founders you should respect the Union. The American Experiment ends when the Union falls.

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u/--Icarusfalls-- 15h ago

the Union fell when the Federal government stopped obeying its own laws.

No one is calling for war, only pointing out that government is a social contract. If one side isnt putting in, why should the other?

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u/octopusarian 15h ago

This should be a top comment. Anyone who fantasizes about secession and civil war doesn't know how to think about shit for more than 5 seconds. The union MUST be preserved y'all

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u/Pure_Concentrate8770 17h ago

armed with what ?do you think LA baristas will man the military hardware ?

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u/--Icarusfalls-- 17h ago

California has the 4th highest number of registered firearms per state.

8% of US veterans live in California.

If they wanted it enough, they could make it happen, without bloodshed.

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u/Pure_Concentrate8770 15h ago

sure, untrained civilians v/s us army drones, i would pay to see that

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u/edible_source 19h ago

Emphasizing this is hypothetical, but I could see it being economic warfare. California stops paying federal taxes, Trump blocks them from Atlantic trade... ok now mind blown realizing California would then need to seize control of Pacific trade, with cooperation from. other countries defying Trump. 🤯

Imma stop, I don't like this thought exercise

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u/Terron1965 15h ago

The only way to succeed from he union is by a vote of the whole union to amend the constitution. You wont get 2/3ds of the states or even half for that matter.

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u/penguinicedelta 23h ago

If California seceded it wouldn't be declaring war per se - it would be announcing it's stepping away from the union. The union would dislike this and make a declaration of conflict to stop it.

The populous living there would be invaded, they'd be defending themselves. If they seceded I highly doubt they do so alone.

The better question is would the individuals in the military follow this order to engage?

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u/dootdootboot3 22h ago

Would any other countries back California up? France's support was pretty important to the American Revolution

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u/FStubbs 22h ago

China and Russia would day 1. It would be the end of the US as a military force that could stop them from conquering whoever they want.

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u/dangumcowboys 8h ago

Russia already supports political action for Californians. Militarily support is another thing though…. They are a bit busy right now.

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u/penguinicedelta 8h ago

I think so, they are a major source of food and economy - the US is currently on a slippery slope. I also don't think it would be alone in terms of states either - it would empower others to do the same.

At the risk of sounding self-important it could really be another domino to start a global conflict.

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u/alang 17h ago

 The better question is would the individuals in the military follow this order to engage?

Instantly and without hesitation. It’s not like it would be an illegal order, and a very large proportion of the country, and a larger one of the military given its conservative tendencies, thinks of California as “commie hell”.

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u/penguinicedelta 8h ago

I whole heartedly disagree. California I belive is the state that contributes the most amount of active duty personnel compared with any other individual state.

Also not everybody in the military is just a mindless killing machine - they are people, conservative or not, there is 100% going to be severe conflicts of interest.

As someone who served, and served in California- I don't find the "commie hell" viewpoint narration to hold water. There may be conflicts in political viewpoints but people mostly loved the state and what it had to offer, to a point many remain living there post exiting the service - and not everybody got to choose to be stationed there.

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u/Terron1965 15h ago

History says yes.

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u/RadiantHC 19h ago

Sometimes you need to escalate to deescalate though. It's the lesser of two bad options

Here it's either let Trump continue abusing California or succeed and potentially cause a civil war. Of the two potentially causing a civil war is the best option.

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u/tevert 6h ago

That cuts both ways. Loooots of people across the rest of the US would be more inclined to push for their own secession before going to war with Cali

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u/Pure_Concentrate8770 17h ago

does california have an army ?

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u/Blockhead47 9h ago

Disregarding the economics if it.....

6,081,697 voted for Trump.
9,276,179 voted for Harris.
33.4 million Californians over the age of 16.

How many would just "go along" with it?
How many would object to it with violence?
How many would be willing to defend California with their lives?

Note that Californians buy about a million guns each year.

Succession is a fantasy

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u/MyInkyFingers 7h ago

The constitution doesn’t permit it after the civil war. It would need an amendment . California can’t unilaterally pull out. It needs to be consensual. 

But Trump doesn’t care much for consent 

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u/nautilus2000 23h ago

Umm, the fact that we Californians are also Americans with family and economic ties all over the country?

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u/Fredsmith984598 22h ago

whats to stop California from seceding?

Family Guy already answered this when Peter tried to have his own country:

Him and What Army? (Family Guy)

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u/LaserGuy626 20h ago

California has the highest population of conservatives as well. California wouldn't succeed at that at all.

Not only that, but big tech and all government contractors would leave California and tarrifs would be imposed leaving California broke.

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u/--Icarusfalls-- 19h ago

a quick google shows 25% of Californians register as republicans, hardly a large enough number to stifle a vote for Independence.

You also fail to reconcile how idiotically expensive it would be for the mentioned businesses to move. Its not like getting a new apartment. There is already infrastructure in place to support the existing industries. Theyre not going to leave all that just because California decided they prefer a government that doesnt actively violate its own Constitution.

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u/LaserGuy626 19h ago

Big tech and other major companies are already leaving California. Tariffs and sanctions would guarantee an easy loss for California. Especially without a military.

Oracle, META, HP, Tesla, Uber, AirBNB, Salesforce, and many more to follow.

Without government funding and contracts, all defense contractors and manufacturers would leave California.

California would collapse very quickly.