California wasted $19 million suing Trump and no, the numbers dont add up

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that California has spent $19.2 million of taxpayer money fighting the Trump administration in court of the past 18 months.Bonta made that sound like a great return on investment: $19.2 million on legal fees to protect $207.1 billion in federal funding — or so he says.It’s not clear whether Bonta is counting his losses in that figure as well — like the $4 billion California lost when its high-speed rail project failed to meet project deadlines.Gov.

Gavin Newsom and Bonta went to court to keep that money — but quietly dropped the case.Regardless, Bonta’s claim reveals a deep, cynical misunderstanding of both basic economics and the financial pressures faced by ordinary Californians.The $207.1 billion figure isn’t money Bonta “saved” or generated out of thin air.It represents routine, baseline federal program allocations — Medicaid matching funds, transportation grants and social safety net dollars — that flow through statutory formulas across the country.

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By clicking above you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.Never miss a story Claiming sole credit for protecting billions in routine federal funding simply because his office attached California’s name to multi-state ideological lawsuits is a self-serving political fantasy.Federal agencies routinely adjust, review or place administrative holds on grant conditions.

The framing of a $200 billion rescue operation is designed to manufacture heroic headlines, not to reflect fiscal reality. Meanwhile, the $19.2 million spent on California’s lawsuits was real, cash-out-the-door taxpayer money.Every dollar Bonta burns in court is a dollar extracted directly from working families who are already getting crushed by the highest state income taxes and the highest cost of living...