Responding to President Donald Trump’s threat to withhold federal funding from California, state congressional leaders on Monday touted the state’s economic progress and job growth, saying any blow to California would have repercussions nationwide.

“If this is what Donald Trump thinks is ‘out of control,’ I’d suggest other states should be more like us,” Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon said in a statement. “California has the most manufacturing jobs in the nation. Our state grows a quarter of the nation’s food. Our minimum wage increase has not only helped our poorest workers, it has boosted the economy while unemployment continues to drop.”

Senate leader Kevin de León said the state was creating jobs faster than any state in the nation and paid more annually in federal taxes than it gets back.

“President Trump’s threat to weaponize federal funding is not only unconstitutional but emblematic of the cruelty he seeks to impose on our most vulnerable communities,” De León said in a statement. “Taking such irresponsible action would hurt our senior citizens, children, farmers, and veterans — these are not political games, these are real lives the President is targeting.”

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