Trump admins new way to bludgeon blue states, accuse of fraud then cut off funds

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/12/brace-for-impact-trump-turns-fraud-into-new-weapon-against-blue-states-00719401

‘Brace for impact’: Trump turns fraud into new weapon against blue states


SACRAMENTO, California — Donald Trump has found a new way to bludgeon blue states: accuse them of fraud, then move to cut off their money.

The attacks ramping up across the map — from Albany and Springfield to Denver and Sacramento — follow Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz ending his reelection campaign amid allegations of welfare fraud in his state, a case Trump’s MAGA allies seized to cast similar aspersions at other Democratic leaders.

The Trump administration cited unproven fraud allegations last week as it put a hold on $10 billion in child care funding to five Democratic-run states. The Department of Justice announced it’s launching a new division of fraud enforcement, pointing to Minnesota’s “fraud epidemic.” And in California, acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said he’s pursuing additional charges of fraud involving state homelessness programs after railing for months against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s management of state spending.

“I’ll say one thing about our president: He told us he was going to do this,” Manhattan Democrat Liz Krueger, the influential chair of the New York Senate Finance Committee, said of the administration’s funding cuts. “He told us he was going to punish blue states. We have to brace for impact, we have to use our legal skills, our amazing attorney general, and endless lawsuits to at least hold them back.”