When Washington Shuts Down, California Steps Up 

When Washington shuts down, California has to step up.

The latest shutdown may be unfolding thousands of miles away in Washington DC, but its consequences hit us hard here in California.

A mom in Fresno waits for her SNAP benefits. A park ranger in Yosemite misses a paycheck. A veteran in Los Angeles can’t reach the VA. And countless families throughout the state worry they won’t be able to visit their doctor or pay for their medications because Medicaid continues to be on the chopping block.

This isn’t an abstract budget fight. It’s a crisis that hits home—and once again, California is being forced to pick up the pieces of Washington’s dysfunction. We’ve seen this story before: political brinkmanship in Washington and gridlock in Congress, leaving working families to bear the cost. But this shutdown isn’t just another episode of bureaucratic dysfunction. It’s a clear and vivid warning of what’s to come.

President Trump and his allies have made it clear. They intend to use California as an example of what happens when a state refuses to fall in line with their agenda. We’ve seen the attacks on our climate policies, threats to healthcare and education funding, and the danger that follows: troops being forcibly deployed on the streets of major cities like Los Angeles and Portland. Washington’s chaos is being weaponized to punish Californians simply for disagreeing with Trump’s twisted agenda.

For too long, California has sent billions of our taxpayer dollars more to Washington than we get back. In just the past few years, Californians have contributed tens of billions more than we received—$55 billion in 2021, $101 billion in 2022, and $17 billion in 2023. Our taxpayers fund programs that sustain the entire nation, but when Washington stalls, we’re left holding the bill—and bearing the harm.

We can’t afford to govern like Washington might come save us. We must plan like it won’t. These next three years under a Trump administration will test California’s strength and our fight like never before. California must be ready—ready to defend our people, protect our progress, and provide the direct services Washington tries to rip away.

That means building a California safety net strong enough to withstand federal neglect—ensuring that vital programs, healthcare coverage, and economic stability don’t depend on who’s in the White House.

In the months ahead, it’s going to be more important than ever to support revenue solutions that make that safety net possible—solutions that ask the wealthiest and biggest corporations to pay their fair share, close outdated loopholes, and reinvest back in the people.