Dem
47
GOP
53
Red states have often praised "federalism" and "states rights" when that means they get to do things the federal government does not want them to do, like banning abortion or ignoring federal gun laws. Turns out it can work both ways. If the blue states got together—and they are starting to do so—they could throw quite a bit of sand in the gears of the federal government. Chris Armitage gives a short rundown of some of the things the states can do to hinder Uncle Sam.
First, enforcing federal law is largely done by the states. This has always been the case. The Fugitive Slave Act required free states to return escaped slaves to their "owners." Indeed, nationwide, 330 enslaved people were returned in the period 1780-1859, or about four per year, nationwide. For the most part, the free states refused to enforce federal law.
Noncooperation would take different forms now, of course. Some of it depends on infrastructure. California's Franchise Tax Board sends over $500 billion/year to the federal government. Suppose "personnel shortages" delayed those payments (indefinitely). New York sends $300 billion/year. Suppose "technical glitches" slowed that to a trickle. Illinois might suddenly have "compatibility issues" with the IRS system. These aren't numbers in Excel. This is the money that runs the federal government. In a month, the federal government couldn't pay its bills. Of course there would be lawsuits, but the Supreme Court can't make "software issues" go away with a ruling, especially when the governors are loudly proclaiming that they are trying to fix matters as soon as possible but they are having trouble finding qualified people to help.
The leverage is in the infrastructure. Most banks are state chartered. State banking regulators could announce that they are fighting money laundering by requiring "enhanced security reviews" on large transfers, such as those to the federal government. The SWIFT and ACH systems that process federal payments are in New York and would have to comply with state regulators.
The IRS can't function without state help. They need state tax records for audits, state DMV data for collections and state banking systems for processing. Suppose new state regulations required "random" requests go through a manual review process. When Trump bellowed, the 15 governors of the states where the Democrats have the trifecta could say: "We are upgrading our systems so they are compatible. We estimate the cost at $200 billion. If you helped out, it would go faster." Trump might cut payments to the states. If the economy tanks next year, guess who gets the blame? Republicans have weaponized bureaucratic obstruction for decades. It is not a secret how to do it. What it requires is that those 15 states work together. They are not as big as the federal government, but they are still very big if they work together. Interstate compacts are explicitly permitted in the Constitution and there have been many of them over the years.
There is much more. Medical licenses issued in red states? Sorry, not valid in blue states anymore. Graduates of red state medical schools who want to do residencies in blue states? Sorry, no space. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, physical therapists, midwives and other medical professionals who are refugees from red states could get special incentives and fast-track licensing if they move to blue states and work in areas that need them. Ditto for teachers and other desirable professionals. Encourage a major brain drain to get valuable professionals to leave the red states.
Of course, there will be lawsuits and Supreme Court decisions on all this. What could blue states do if courts rule against them? Be like Texas. When the courts ruled against the SB-8 bounty system on abortions, the state changed a few words and passed the law again. Rinse and repeat. If 15 states played this game, all with variants in their laws and procedures, each case would have to be fought separately and over and over. In the end, the courts would be overwhelmed and couldn't enforce anything against half the country. It's not making one dramatic stand. It's flooding the zone, passing laws that might be struck down, refusing to cooperate in any way, and throttling the infrastructure while simply not enforcing federal laws due to "personnel shortages" caused by governors' "decisions" to prioritize fighting street crime. (V)