New Jersey May Stop Paying Federal Taxes Under New Governor

Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey is floating the possibility that the state withholds federal tax dollars in protest of the Trump administration.

The comments from Sherrill — made on comedian Jon Stewart’s podcast — underscores how she's trying to find ways to push back against President Donald Trump’s agenda. Sherrill won New Jersey’s closely watched gubernatorial race earlier this month in a blowout, with the results widely viewed as a referendum on Trump.

It is unclear how such a proposal would work, and Sherrill's transition team declined to elaborate. The Garden State regularly pays more to the federal government in taxes than it gets back, according to an analysis from the Rockefeller Institute.

Sherrill, speaking with Stewart, said that she thinks about withholding federal tax dollars “all the time” and that it’s a “great idea.”

“If they're not gonna run the programs, then what are we paying them for?” she said. “It's like, you know, you're paying us for a service and they’re not delivering. So let’s stop paying for it.”

Sherrill appears to be taking a page from California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s playbook. In June, Newsom similarly floated having California stop paying federal taxes — although the idea never materialized. He later told POLITICO that the proposal would be difficult, especially since individuals and businesses pay taxes to the federal government, not states.

“We’re assessing it, we have looked into it, and [the Department of] Finance is looking across the spectrum of options. But it’s limited, because most of that distribution and transfer comes from individual taxpayers,” Newsom later said.

Federal funding cuts featured prominently in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race. During the federal government shutdown, Trump threatened to “terminate” funding for the Gateway tunnel — a massive infrastructure project to build new train tunnels under the Hudson River.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.