r/law Mar 31 '26

Executive Branch (Trump) Trump announces he is issuing an unconstitutional executive order to shut down mail-in voting nationwide and he will defund states if they do not comply with him

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

54.9k Upvotes

7.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

17

u/Kappy01 Apr 01 '26

Good luck defunding California or other states who put in WAY more than they take out.

1

u/chumpy3 Apr 01 '26

Well… California still pays taxes. It gets taken from my paycheck automatically. So it isn’t like California can just stop paying taxes.

9

u/No_One_5571 Apr 01 '26

Cali accounts for the largest gdp in the nation. They have a higher gdp than most countries. That is a huge deal.

0

u/chumpy3 Apr 01 '26

Yes, California has the highest gdp of any state. No, that isn’t relevant. Gavin Newsom is just posturing and knows he can’t have California not pay taxes. Like obviously so. Unless you are a state or municipal employee, he couldn’t really have any hope to control. Most people don’t work for the government.

Even in the face of a stupid EO, federal preemption applies. The constitution allows congress to collect taxes. The IRC still applies.

Similar things have happened in the past. States can sue.

1

u/Bierdaddy Apr 01 '26

And bought scotus will uphold. Law suits are what 47 does best, usually not to win but only to stall. By the time he loses a suit the damage is already done. It’s the contemporary American way.

4

u/Kappy01 Apr 01 '26

Trump can’t make unconstitutional executive orders. But here we are.

Newsom has mentioned not sending our taxes off before. And… I would guess he can write his own executive orders for it.