Getting What We’re Owed From A Deadbeat President
If Trump is withholding our tax dollars, blue states should too
Contact all members of Congress:
By phone: (202) 224-3121
By email: Congress.gov
By US mail: Representatives / Senators
By Resistbot: Resist.bot
The Trump regime has taken repeated, unprecedented action to withhold federal funding as political punishment for his opponents. We’re seeing it right now with their efforts to steal Medicaid funding from Minnesota. The courts are likely to step in, but even delays are costly, disruptive and chilling for programs regular folks are counting on.
We know this president is prone to backing down in the face of fierce resistance, a classic bully who only wants to pick on the weak. Blue states, many of whom contribute far more to the federal government than they receive in return, should be seeking to throw punches of their own to stop the weaponization of our own tax dollars against us. And we certainly can’t keep playing by the same old rules while Trump shreds them.
As outlined in this report from the State Innovation Exchange, legislators have pushed two different kinds of responses to Trump’s attacks, introducing measures:
Authorizing the state to withhold payments to the federal government if the administration is found to have illegally taken funds (New York, Maryland, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Pennsylvania)
Allowing the state them to place liens on non-essential federal properties (New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania)
While these are limited in scope and subject to legal challenges themselves, they give blue states a way to push back. And as Maryland Del. David Moon has put it, they’re using standard debt-collection methods to get money owed by a deadbeat, allowing us to reframe Trump’s abuse of power as the act of a loser.
Let’s reach out to our legislators and governors and ask them to push bills like these in our states. We can find call scripts and language below or send this message to our lawmakers via Resistbot by texting SIGN PTIVXU to 50409.
Last updated 2/26/26.
PHONE SCRIPTS:
You can find contact info for your legislators here and for your governor here. Please adjust, add, and reword as you would see fit - you will be most effective speaking in your own words!
Hi, my name is _________, and I’m a constituent from (city, zip). (If voicemail, leave street address).
Please back (BILL # or similar) legislation to withhold payments from the federal government and place liens on federal property if Trump steals our money.
The president keeps bullying us by holding our own tax dollars hostage. We shouldn’t put up with it, and we can’t just keep playing with the same rules he’s shredding. If he’s going to act like a deadbeat, let’s treat him like one.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
EMAIL LANGUAGE
We can send this message directly to our state legislators and governor by texting SIGN PTIVXU to 50409. We can also find contact info for legislators here and for governors here.
We’ve seen the same story play out time after time with this regime. Trump wants to punish or pressure “blue America” so we’ll fall in line. He holds hostage federal funding we’re owed for child care or health care or schools or emergency services. We run into court to fight back. We endure a long legal battle with his sword hanging over our heads.
We’re getting bullied and cheated with our own hard-earned money. Enough!
Trump is acting like a deadbeat. Let’s treat him like one. A number of legislators have proposed allowing the state to hold back payments to the federal government and placing liens on federal property if the administration is ruled to have illegally withheld our funds. (REFERENCE SPECIFIC MEASURE HERE) Let’s make that law in our state.
It’s a way to cover for what he steals, so we can keep our programs and services running. And it lets us punch back at the weaponization of our tax dollars against us. We protect our people and we don’t let ourselves get blackmailed.
This regime is playing by their own set of rules. We should play by them, too.