make a federal case of

Idioms  

1. Also, make a big deal of. Give undue importance to an issue, as in I'll pay you back next week—you needn't make a federal case of it, or Jack is making a big deal of filling out his passport application. The first hyperbolic expression, almost always used in a negative context, alludes to taking a legal action before a high (federal) court. The second alludes to an important business transaction (see big deal, def. 1).

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Example Sentences

Employees with a mental illness are generally protected from discrimination by U.S. disability-rights law, but few care to make a federal case of it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 17, 2018