California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday the state plans to impose a 100% tax on any Californians who receive payments from President Donald Trump’s newly created Anti-Weaponization Fund, a $1.78 billion settlement fund the Trump administration established last week through a lawsuit with the IRS.
“Anyone from California that receives any of those funds, we want to tax 100% of those proceeds and that’s an action the state of California can take,” Newsom said at a Wednesday news conference. “It’s an action we look forward to taking.”
Newsom and other Democratic governors have opposed the fund since the Justice Department announced it as part of a settlement between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service. Newsom argues the fund primarily benefits people pardoned or convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“He pardoned all of those folks that were beating up cops and absolved them, providing them 1.776 billion dollars,” Newsom wrote on X. “So not only do you get a pardon, you get rewarded. That’s why this is needed.”
California is not the only state considering punitive taxes on the payments. A Connecticut state lawmaker introduced similar 100% tax legislation targeting fund recipients in that state.
Democratic members of Congress from New York have also proposed legislation to block the fund entirely. A federal court in Florida is expected to weigh in on a separate challenge to the fund’s legality.
California currently faces an estimated $2.9 billion budget shortfall for fiscal year 2027. The state’s high-speed rail project, now carrying a projected cost of $128 billion, has not yet laid a single mile of track. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy referred to a California wildlife crossing project running $21 million over budget as a “bridge to nowhere.”
