The novel and untested approach — so far introduced in Connecticut, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin — would essentially allow states to withhold federal payments if lawmakers determine the federal government is delinquent in funding owed to them.
“Trump is illegally withholding funds that have been previously approved,” said David Moon, the Democratic majority leader in Maryland’s House of Delegates.
Moon said the two bills are in response to various Trump actions that have withheld federal funding for programs that pay to assist with children’s mental health and flood wall protections.
Early in his second term, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency unilaterally froze billions of dollars in funding for programs that states rely on.
He’s also threatened to withhold federal funding from states that implement policies he politically disagrees with, including “sanctuary” policies for undocumented immigrants, though some such freezes have been halted by courts.
Payments available for withholding include the federal taxes collected from the paychecks of state employees, as well as grant payments owed back to the federal government.
Super added that states withholding money could potentially further worsen the status of programs affected by federal cuts. »
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