Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent just did something refreshing in Washington — he called a dumb idea exactly what it is. California Governor Gavin Newsom's plan to tax payments from President Trump's $1.776 billion federal compensation fund for victims of government weaponization? "There's no cure for stupid," Bessent said. On the record. Out loud. With his whole chest.
I'd argue "stupid" is actually the polite version.
Let's set the scene. The Trump administration created a $1.776 billion fund — yes, that number is intentional and yes, it's perfect — to compensate Americans who were harmed by the political weaponization of federal agencies under previous administrations. People who had their lives turned upside down by a government that was supposed to serve them. The fund exists to make things right.
So naturally, Gavin Newsom looked at victims of government abuse getting compensated and thought, "How can I get a piece of that?"
Newsom's California wants to tax the payments from the fund that go to California residents. Let that sink in. The federal government admits people were wrongfully targeted. It sets aside money to compensate them. And Sacramento — the same state government that can't keep the lights on, can't stop the wildfires, and can't figure out why everyone is moving to Texas — wants to skim off the top.
This is Gavin Newsom in a nutshell. His state is hemorrhaging residents. His cities are drowning in homelessness. His budget is a disaster. And his big move is to pick a fight with the federal government over taxing compensation payments to people the government already admitted it screwed over.
It's like watching a man whose house is on fire walk across the street to argue about his neighbor's lawn.
Bessent's response was perfect because it was simple. He didn't launch into a policy debate. He didn't cite tax code subsections. He just said what every American with common sense was already thinking. Stupid is as stupid does, and Newsom does stupid at an Olympic level.
As reported by Newsmax, Bessent's rebuke lands at a moment when California's anti-Trump posturing has become almost cartoonish. Every week it's a new scheme — a new lawsuit, a new regulation, a new tax — designed not to help Californians but to score points against the White House. And every week, more U-Haul trucks head east.
Here's the thing about Newsom. He doesn't actually care whether this tax plan works or is even legal. He cares that it gets him a headline. He cares that it positions him as the guy who "stood up to Trump." He's not governing California. He's running a perpetual campaign for a job he doesn't have yet, funded by people fleeing the state he's supposed to be running.
The Treasury Secretary of the United States called a sitting governor's plan stupid. That's not a gaffe. That's a diagnosis.
