Representative Michael Rulli wants to punish cities that replaced Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day. His proposed legislation would withhold federal funding from any jurisdiction that celebrates the wrong holiday. And Trump’s Cabinet applauded October 9 when the president signed a proclamation declaring “We’re back, Italians.”

The bill transforms a federal holiday into a federal mandate. Cities that choose Indigenous Peoples Day over Columbus Day would lose access to unspecified federal funds. The mechanism remains vague. The constitutional problem is crystal clear.

Congress cannot use spending conditions to coerce state and local governments into adopting specific cultural celebrations. The Tenth Amendment reserves to states all powers not delegated to the federal government. The Spending Clause grants Congress broad authority to attach conditions to federal funds – but that authority has limits the Supreme Court has repeatedly enforced.

Rulli told Fox News Digital that his legislation would “reaffirm Columbus Day as a federal holiday” and ensure “we are not going to allow any American municipality to think that they have power over the federal government.” The framing inverts constitutional structure. Municipalities absolutely have power independent of the federal government. That’s called federalism.

The Holiday Born from Violence

Columbus Day became a federal observance through a long history entangled with Italian-American identity and tragic violence. The 1892 establishment followed the lynching of 11 Italian immigrants in New Orleans after a police chief’s death. President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as a one-time celebration partly to ease diplomatic tensions with Italy and placate Italian-American communities facing brutal discrimination.

The Knights of Columbus and other Italian-American organizations lobbied for decades to make the holiday permanent. Colorado established the first state Columbus Day in 1907. Congress authorized annual presidential proclamations in 1934. President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation in 1968 making Columbus Day a recurring federal holiday, effective 1971.

The holiday served dual purposes from its inception – honoring Italian heritage and celebrating the “discovery” of America. Those purposes increasingly conflict as historical understanding of Columbus’s actual legacy has evolved.

Columbus initiated European colonization that killed millions of indigenous people through disease, enslavement, and violence. Contemporary accounts from Spanish priest Bartolomé de las Casas describe acts “so foreign to human nature” involving systematic torture and mass killing. Columbus personally ordered enslavement and mutilation of native Arawak populations.

The historical record makes celebration controversial. But controversy doesn’t grant Congress power to compel states and cities to celebrate specific holidays.

The Cities That Changed Course

Berkeley, California became the first city to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous Peoples Day in 1992, the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s landing. The list of cities that followed includes Austin, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Phoenix, and dozens more.

Entire states joined the shift. Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico, South Dakota, Vermont, and the District of Columbia replaced or eliminated Columbus Day at the state level. Some substituted Indigenous Peoples Day. Others chose different commemorations like Colorado’s Frances Xavier Cabrini Day or South Dakota’s Native American Day.

President Biden recognized both Columbus Day and Indigenous Peoples Day in 2021, attempting to honor Italian-American heritage while acknowledging indigenous suffering. Trump’s October 2025 proclamation eliminated that dual recognition, declaring simply Columbus Day and prompting his Cabinet’s spontaneous applause.

Rulli argues that Italian Americans deserve their holiday without dilution. “This is about every son and daughter of Italy, every Knights of Columbus, every pasta dinner on Sunday,” he told Fox News. “Every Little Italy neighborhood of this country celebrates Christopher Columbus. It’s so much more than the man. It’s the people.”

The cultural significance doesn’t translate into constitutional authority to punish cities that disagree.

The Spending Clause Boundaries

South Dakota v. Dole established that Congress can attach conditions to federal funding, but those conditions must meet specific requirements. They must be clearly stated. They must relate to the federal interest in the particular national program. They cannot be coercive. And they cannot require states to violate constitutional rights.

The Supreme Court struck down parts of the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion in NFIB v. Sebelius specifically because the funding conditions were impermissibly coercive. States couldn’t realistically refuse expanded Medicaid without losing all Medicaid funding – effectively forcing compliance rather than offering a choice.

Rulli’s proposal would condition federal funds on cities celebrating a specific holiday. The federal interest in local holiday observances remains unclear. Cities that choose Indigenous Peoples Day aren’t violating federal law – Columbus Day is a federal holiday meaning federal offices close, not a mandate for state or local observance.

Most states don’t officially celebrate Columbus Day even before the Indigenous Peoples Day movement. Delaware, Oregon, and Washington never made it a state holiday. Iowa and Nevada authorize but don’t require gubernatorial proclamations. The diversity of state practices reflects federalism functioning as designed – different communities making different choices about cultural observances.

The Italian-American Heritage Question

Rulli explicitly frames his bill as protecting Italian-American identity. Columbus Day became entwined with Italian-American heritage during periods of intense anti-Italian and anti-Catholic discrimination. The Know Nothing movement and later the Ku Klux Klan opposed Columbus celebrations specifically because they increased Catholic influence in Protestant-dominated America.

That history matters. Italian Americans faced lynchings, employment discrimination, and internment during World War II when nearly 2,000 Italian nationals were detained as “enemy aliens.” Columbus Day served as public recognition of Italian-American contributions and belonging in American society.

The question is whether that cultural significance justifies federal coercion of local governments. Rulli says Indigenous people “deserve their own special day” and he would “be willing to get the Indigenous people their own day, but not this day.”

The stance treats federal holidays as zero-sum resources to be allocated between competing groups. But cities have already solved this by creating new observances without congressional permission. Berkeley didn’t need federal authorization to establish Indigenous Peoples Day. Denver didn’t require congressional approval to shift recognition.

Local control over local celebrations represents core federalism principles. Congress can declare federal holidays. It cannot dictate what cities and states celebrate absent clear constitutional authority and compelling federal interest.

What “Power Over the Federal Government” Actually Means

Rulli’s statement that municipalities shouldn’t “think that they have power over the federal government” fundamentally misunderstands constitutional structure. Cities and states don’t exercise power “over” the federal government. They exercise power independent from federal authority within their reserved spheres.

The Tenth Amendment explicitly reserves to states all powers not delegated to the federal government or prohibited to states. Local holiday observances fall squarely within state police powers – the authority to regulate matters of local concern including cultural celebrations and public commemorations.

When cities choose Indigenous Peoples Day, they aren’t defying federal authority. They’re exercising state power to determine local observances. Federal employees still get Columbus Day off. Federal buildings still close. The federal holiday continues functioning regardless of what cities call their local observance.

Using federal funding to punish cities for exercising reserved powers crosses from conditional spending into impermissible coercion. It attempts to commandeer state and local governments to serve federal cultural preferences rather than legitimate federal program objectives.

The Precedent for Cultural Warfare

If Congress can withhold funds from cities that don’t celebrate Columbus Day, what else becomes subject to funding conditions? Can Congress defund cities that celebrate Pride Month? Can it penalize states that recognize Confederate Memorial Day? Can it condition highway funds on cities removing or maintaining specific historical monuments?

The slippery slope isn’t hypothetical. Using federal spending power to enforce cultural conformity invites escalating partisan retaliation. Democrats could threaten funding for cities that maintain Columbus Day. Republicans could counter with conditions on cities that celebrate Juneteenth. The federal budget becomes a weapon in culture war battles rather than a means of serving legitimate federal interests.

Supreme Court precedent on coercive spending conditions exists precisely to prevent this trajectory. Federal funding shouldn’t function as a cudgel to force state and local compliance with federal cultural preferences unrelated to the funded programs.

Rulli’s bill doesn’t specify which federal funds would be withheld or how the penalty would be calculated. That vagueness itself creates constitutional problems. Spending conditions must be clearly stated so states can knowingly accept or reject them. Ambiguous threats to withhold unspecified funds fail that requirement.

The Historical Revision Debate

Opposition to Columbus celebrations predates recent culture war conflicts. Native American groups mobilized against 500th anniversary celebrations in 1992. The first Intercontinental Gathering of Indigenous People in the Americas met in Quito, Ecuador in 1990 to coordinate resistance. They declared October 12, 1992 as “International Day of Solidarity with Indigenous People.”

The opposition focuses on documented atrocities committed by Columbus and subsequent colonizers. Millions of indigenous people died following European contact – some from disease, many from violence and enslavement. Columbus’s governorship featured systematic exploitation and brutality toward native populations.

Italian Americans counter that Columbus Day celebrates their heritage and contributions, not Columbus’s specific actions. They note the holiday emerged during periods when Italian immigrants faced discrimination and violence. Eliminating Columbus Day feels like erasing Italian-American identity from public recognition.

Both perspectives contain valid elements. Italian Americans deserve recognition for their contributions to American society. Indigenous peoples deserve acknowledgment of the catastrophic impact of colonization. Whether those dual recognitions can coexist on the same day remains contested.

But that debate belongs in local communities, city councils, and state legislatures – not in federal funding conditions that coerce compliance with one side’s cultural preferences.

The Trump Proclamation That Started This

Trump’s October 9 proclamation declaring Columbus Day prompted the Cabinet’s enthusiastic applause. The president framed the declaration as restoration after Biden’s dual recognition. “We’re back, Italians,” Trump announced to spontaneous Cabinet cheering.

The moment revealed the partisan transformation of what was once a relatively uncontroversial federal holiday. Columbus Day became a cultural battlefield where presidential proclamations signal allegiance to Italian-American voters and rejection of indigenous activism.

Rulli’s legislation attempts to convert that presidential stance into enforceable policy. Trump can issue proclamations celebrating Columbus. Congress can declare federal holidays honoring whomever it chooses. Neither can force cities and states to adopt those celebrations under threat of losing federal funds.

The Constitution distributes powers specifically to prevent federal overreach into matters of local concern. Cultural observances and holiday celebrations qualify as quintessentially local decisions. Federal employees observe federal holidays. State and local employees observe whatever their governments designate.

The Indigenous Peoples Day Movement

The shift toward Indigenous Peoples Day reflects changing historical understanding and political power. Native American activists spent decades challenging Columbus mythology. Academic historians documented atrocities previously omitted from celebratory accounts. Progressive movements embraced indigenous rights and historical accuracy.

Cities that adopted Indigenous Peoples Day typically did so through democratic processes – city council votes, mayoral proclamations, community advocacy. Berkeley’s 1992 decision came after organizing by Native American groups and local activists. Seattle’s 2014 change followed similar community pressure and council debate.

The democratic legitimacy of these changes matters constitutionally. Cities didn’t unilaterally impose Indigenous Peoples Day. Elected officials responded to constituent demands through normal political processes. That’s federalism functioning exactly as designed.

Rulli’s federal legislation would override those local democratic decisions, substituting congressional cultural preferences for community choices. The mechanism bypasses political debate by threatening financial penalties rather than persuading voters.

The Bill That Says Everything About Constitutional Politics

Rulli’s legislation will likely fail to pass. Its significance lies not in its prospects but in what it reveals about contemporary constitutional politics. Federal power gets weaponized for culture war battles. Spending conditions become tools of partisan coercion. Constitutional limits fade when both parties view them as obstacles to cultural victories.

Italian Americans deserve recognition. Indigenous peoples deserve acknowledgment. Those dual imperatives need not be mutually exclusive. Many communities found ways to honor both. Federal funding threats don’t facilitate that reconciliation – they poison it.

The Constitution distributed powers to enable such local solutions. Cities and states can experiment with different approaches to contested celebrations. Federal government maintains limited authority over genuinely national concerns. That balance protects both unity on essential matters and diversity on local questions.

Columbus Day versus Indigenous Peoples Day is exactly the kind of question the Constitution leaves to states and localities. Congress can declare federal holidays. It cannot condition funding on cities adopting those celebrations. That distinction matters because constitutional structure matters.

Rulli wants to ensure cities don’t think they have “power over the federal government.” The real question is whether the federal government retains unlimited power over cities. The Constitution’s answer remains clear even if political practice increasingly ignores it.

Cities have power independent from federal government. That’s called federalism. And no amount of culture war urgency justifies federal funding threats to override it.