CNN
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The Trump administration is preparing to cancel a large swath of federal funding for California, an effort which could begin as soon as Friday, according to multiple sources.
Agencies are being told to start identifying grants the administration can withhold from California. On Capitol Hill, at least one committee was told recently by a whistleblower that all research grants to the state were going to be cancelled, according to one of the sources familiar with the matter.
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
President Donald Trump has long made Democratic-led California a target.
Just last month, he threatened to withhold federal funding from California over a transgender athlete’s participation in a sporting event — the latest example of the president trying to use funding as leverage to enact his agenda. The administration recently cut $126.4 million in flood prevention funding projects, and Trump repeatedly went after the state’s handling of devastating wildfires earlier this year. The president and California Gov. Gavin Newsom have also publicly feuded for years.
Higher education in the state could be hit hard by Trump’s move. GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of California, who said he was unaware of the imminent grant cancellations, told CNN he recently met with university representatives who were concerned about the future of their funding.
“Every university, every research organization, pretty much I saw them passing through here the last two days” Issa said.
Issa told CNN his message to the fearful university representatives was, “We’re going to advocate for essentials, but I sent them back and said come to me with specifics. Come to me with the grant and the justification, and I’ll advocate for that. But I’m not going to advocate for no cuts; you just get more money every year. That’s how we got in this problem.”
