John,
Trump’s most egregious failure as president, the root of them all, is his profound abuse of the presidency itself. A president is sworn to govern the entire nation, not only those who voted for him. Yet Trump is acting as if millions of Americans are not his constituents at all, but adversaries to be punished -- people he openly treats as an “enemy” to be disciplined and subjugated through state power.
That abuse is now aimed squarely at children. Trump has frozen $10 billion in child care and foster care funding only in states that did not vote for him in 2024. This is retaliation, plain and simple. Infants, toddlers, foster children, and working parents are being shut out not because of need or eligibility, but because of how most people in their state cast a ballot.
By targeting California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York, Trump is asserting a dangerous principle: that federal resources belong only to those who show political loyalty. Millions of Trump voters live in these states, yet they too are swept up in the punishment. The message is unmistakable -- if you did not support him, he does not recognize you as part of the country he governs.
Send a direct message to your members of Congress to address America’s child care crisis and end Trump’s vindictive funding freeze now.
The cruelty compounds an already dire reality for working families. Child care costs routinely exceed $15,000 per year per child, forcing parents into an impossible bind: unable to afford care, yet unable to leave their jobs. Withholding funds guarantees closures of centers, loss of openings and providers, and parents scrambling with nowhere safe to care for their children while they work. These harms are not accidental -- they are intentional.
The injustice is even starker given the fiscal reality Trump ignores. So-called “blue” states send far more money to Washington than they receive. From 2018 to 2022, states that voted Democratic contributed nearly 60 percent of federal tax revenue while receiving just 53 percent of federal spending. Red states paid less and received more, producing a transfer of over $1 trillion. Trump is punishing states that already subsidize the rest of the country.
Congress cannot pretend this is someone else’s problem. The Constitution gives lawmakers -- not the president alone -- the authority to determine how these funds are distributed. Allowing a president to selectively withhold aid turns federal funding into a loyalty test, transforming democratic government into a virtual rule by decree.
Tell Congress to intervene now and end this vengeance-driven funding freeze.
Thank you for speaking up for children and families who deserve decency and fairness.
- DFA AF Team
