Democrats are in major trouble. They keep losing every battle they fight.
And this top Leftist Governor was embarrassed beyond belief after suffering a brutal defeat.
California Republican leaders have taken aim at Governor Gavin Newsom’s handling of the state’s homelessness crisis following the release of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) year-end Homelessness Assessment Report.
The report highlighted California as leading the nation in homelessness, with a 3% increase in 2024, bringing the total to 187,000 individuals.
State Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones criticized Newsom for his management of the issue, framing the HUD findings as a stark indictment of the governor’s approach.
“Gavin Newsom literally lost track of the $27 billion he spent on the homeless crisis,” Jones said, citing the report. “Today’s HUD report makes it clear that instead of solving the problem, Newsom’s endless spending ‘solution’ has only made it worse.”
In response, Newsom’s office emphasized that the state has distributed $24 billion to local governments through various homelessness programs and rejected claims that the funds were mismanaged or unaccounted for.
“All that money is accounted for,” Newsom’s office stated, addressing Jones’s accusations. “The audit showed that previously not all state programs required locals to report how those dollars improved homelessness… That’s been fixed. This administration has added strong accountability and reporting requirements for local governments that receive state funding.”
The administration also pointed to broader national trends, noting that California’s homelessness increase was 3% in 2024, compared to a 21% national surge the previous year.
The governor’s office framed this as evidence of progress, highlighting that unsheltered homelessness in California grew more slowly under Newsom’s tenure than during former Governor Jerry Brown’s administration.
“The number of unsheltered homeless increased by 13.83% during the Newsom Administration (2019-2023), compared to an increase of 51.79% in the five years prior,” Newsom’s office stated on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Despite these assertions, Republican leaders remain unswayed. The California Assembly Republican caucus, led by Assemblyman James Gallagher, accused Newsom of “gaslighting” the public.
“Since the governor is committed to gaslighting on this issue, we’ll state the obvious: an increase of 20% is not progress,” the caucus wrote in a statement.
Gallagher and his colleagues also referenced Newsom’s combative response to a recent CalMatters op-ed, which criticized his homelessness policies and suggested they could become a liability in a potential 2028 presidential run. The column quoted Newsom as saying that addressing homelessness must remain a “top priority” and highlighted his calls for greater accountability among local officials.
“People have to see and feel the progress and the change…” Newsom was quoted as saying according to the op-ed.
In defense of his record, Newsom pointed to several new initiatives aimed at tackling systemic issues contributing to homelessness, including the implementation of Proposition 1, CARE Court, and conservatorship reforms.
Meanwhile, Jones, the Senate minority leader, has proposed bipartisan legislation aimed at reforming California’s homelessness policies. One of his bills, which failed to reach Newsom’s desk, sought to enforce existing state laws against public encampments while providing a 72-hour grace period and mandated local programs for affected individuals.
In a separate statement, Newsom reiterated his commitment to combating homelessness: “We have turned the tide on a decades-long increase in homelessness – but we have more work to do. California’s plan is ambitious and challenging, but the data is proving that it is not impossible: our strategies are making a positive difference.”
The homelessness crisis remains a contentious issue in California, with Governor Newsom continuing to prove that he is unable to fix the crisis.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
