There has always been a tense balance between states power and federal power. Economics can not be ignored in this relationship. The financial power that Trump holds over the heads of states, in the form of federal money, lets not forget, comes from federal income taxes - in other words from wages of people in those states. All states are not equal in their financial support of the federal government however or in their dependence on it, according to a MoneyRate.com article. https://www.money-rates.com/research-center/federal-income-taxes-by-state.htm
In 2017 California paid $234.5 billion in federal income taxes. That's 15% of the total Federal Budget. New York paid $140.5 billion. But a more precise measurement of this give and take relationship shows that smaller wealthier states contribute more ,in terms of what they give than what they get, than even the behemoth of California. In short, there are wealthy states who contribute more than they get back from the federal government and poor states who get more than they contribute. Sounds a lot like wealth redistribution doesn't it?
An interactive map produced by the Rockefeller Institute of Government illustrates this point.
https://rockinst.org/issue-areas/fiscal-analysis/balance-of-payments-portal/ Of course the states can't interfere in the collection of federal income tax dollars but by the same token, it makes them more resilient to federal control because one of the ways the federal government "threatens" the states into compliance is by saying it won't provide money to the states. Federal highway dollars are often used as blackmail. Although the Constitution states that unless the Federal Government is specifically given a power by the Constitution, that power is left up to the states, it is easier said than done.
Sometimes an administration will try and bully the states and they will fight back with a lawsuit, which often becomes a multi state lawsuit. In looking at the history of multi state lawsuits I found it interesting that although Republicans claim to be Constitutionalists who want smaller government and complain about centralized "Soviet style" power, the states have had to react to government overreach much more under Republican presidents. Although there has been an increase over the last few presidents, there were 46 multi-state lawsuits against the Obama administration in his 8 years in office, there have already been 47 lawsuits failed against the Trump administration in less than 4 years. https://ballotpedia.org/Multistate_lawsuits_against_the_federal_government,_2017-2020
I don't think the states dealing with the coronavirus crisis are interested in having a showdown with Trump, but they aren't likely to back down to his threats either. And if they make that known, my guess is that Trump, like most school schoolyard bullies who realizes he picked on the wrong kid, will avoid the fight while boasting how he "could have won" if he wanted to.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).



