While legislators in the Democratic trifecta are trying to pass bills to "Trump-proof" the state, California Republican Kate Sanchez plans to introduce a bill that would crack down on what may be a "sanctuary state" loophole protecting criminal illegal immigrants involved in sex-trafficking minors.
"It would eliminate all of the unnecessary restrictions for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal law enforcement in order to go after those that have been accused or convicted of sex trafficking of minors, and currently there is a clause that they cannot communicate as openly as possible," Sanchez told Fox News Digital in an interview.
These restrictions are part of California's "sanctuary state" policies, which are designed to limit state and local law enforcement's involvement in federal immigration enforcement. For her part, the specific provisions that Sanchez wants to amend are found in the California Values Act (SB 54), which was enacted in 2017, that restricts local law enforcement agencies from using resources to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect or arrest individuals for immigration enforcement purposes.
There are exceptions in SB 54 for individuals convicted of certain serious or violent crimes. However, sex trafficking is not always classified as a violent felony under California law – making it so that some convicted sex traffickers may not meet the criteria for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal immigration authorities – potentially thwarting deportation efforts.
Sanchez argues this creates a loophole that could allow illegal immigrants who are involved in sex trafficking to remain in the U.S. after serving their sentence. In 2023, Newsom signed Senate Bill 14 (SB 14), reclassifying the trafficking of a minor as a "serious" felony, but other forms of human trafficking may still not be considered violent felonies under state law.
"So, we want to make sure we remove that piece of the penal code and allow them to communicate and do their job fully," Sanchez said.
'DEVASTATING': CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALL LAST YEAR, BUT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO STORE IT
Sanchez's bill may align well with President Donald Trump's mass deportation plan currently underway, but it faces an uphill battle in her state legislature, which is dominated by Democrats. Currently, Democratic assemblymembers – in collaboration with Newsom – are trying to pass a series of bills that would bolster the state's legal defense against the Trump administration. The State Senate already passed the bills last week.
Democrats were set to pass the $50 million special session bill Thursday, but Assembly lawmakers reportedly blocked the package over concerns that there may be changes that need to be made to the immigration-related proposal. At issue is Newsom's $25 million allocation for nonprofit organizations to defend illegal immigrants from deportation, and whether those funds would be used as well for criminal illegal immigrants.
Newsom's office told Fox News Digital previously that no funds would go to criminal illegal immigrants.
NEWSOM PROPOSES $25M FROM STATE LEGISLATURE TO 'TRUMP-PROOF' CALIFORNIA
Newsom called a special legislative session quickly after Trump's electoral victory to secure additional funding for the state's legal defense against the administration. Reacting to the development on his TruthSocial account at the time, Trump said, "He is using the term 'Trump-Proof' as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to 'Make California Great Again,' but I just overwhelmingly won the Election."
Sanchez – who says she has been shut out of the legislature's Hispanic Caucus because she's a Republican – said the legislature should be focusing on "fireproofing" the state, or rather, "Newsom-proofing California."
"Take it for what it's worth, but I genuinely feel like there are victims and there are people in need that we should be advocating for protecting our most vulnerable, protecting the innocence of our children," Sanchez said. "It is an uphill battle in Sacramento, but I do feel the tide is turning, and I know we will be looking to our federal counterparts to be helpful in this matter as well."
Fox News Digital has reached out to Newsom's office for comment.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust will hold a hearing next week addressing overregulation in California following the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, stating California’s "onerous regulatory regime" may have worsened the disaster, Fox News Digital has learned.
The "California Fires and the Consequences of Overregulation" hearing will examine the real impacts of regulatory policy on the prevention of natural disasters, particularly in the case of California's wildfires, according to a statement obtained by Fox News Digital.
It will also address how excessive regulation on insurance and permitting serves as a roadblock to those recovering from disasters.
Cal Fire reported more than 12,000 homes, businesses and schools were lost to the fires and more than 100,000 people have had to leave their homes.
KELSEY GRAMMER SAYS CALIFORNIA LAWMAKERS 'TOOK THEIR EYE OFF THE BALL' IN WILDFIRES CATASTROPHE
Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, described current disaster regulations as a "nightmare."
"Democrat-run California's excessive regulations make preventing and recovering from natural disasters a nightmare," he said.
LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES: SECOND CALIFORNIA REAL ESTATE AGENT CHARGED WITH PRICE GOUGING VICTIMS
Jordan added that California needs a streamlined process, as suggested by President Donald Trump, to remove regulation and ensure citizens can rebuild and prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., said the wildfires were a preventable tragedy, and Congress must examine whether California’s "onerous regulatory regime" worsened the disaster.
"For years, California’s liberal government has prioritized environmental activism over effective forest management and disaster mitigation. Meanwhile, the politicization of their state insurance regulator has driven insurers out of the state and forced taxpayers to foot the bill," Fitzgerald said.
Witnesses will include Steve Hilton, founder of Golden Together; Steven Greenhut, resident senior fellow and western region director of state affairs for the R Street Institute; and Edward Ring, director of water and energy policy for the California Policy Center, according to the statement.
The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6 at 10 a.m.
California Republican Rep. Bill Essayli is seeking answers from liberal Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration about whether bills introduced in the legislature's special session to "Trump-proof" the state would thwart the president's mass deportation program.
During a hearing on Tuesday to discuss two bills that Newsom has proposed, which allocates a $50 million initiative to bolster the state's legal defenses against anticipated federal policies from President Donald Trump's administration, Essayli questioned officials from Newsom's office about whether the funds would be used "to defend illegal immigrants from deportation."
"It's not very clear to me, but basically, these groups provide free legal services to illegal immigrants," Essayli told Fox News Digital in an interview. "And what I wanted to know is, if they're going to be defending illegal immigrants from deportation who have criminal records, and they could not answer the question. I think the answer is, absolutely they are."
During the hearing, Essayli asked one of Newsom's officials if the money would be used to defend criminal illegal immigrants from deportation.
"Assembly member, as a budget staffer, I can only tell you what the grant is for, I don't know that I can get you that level of guarantee," she responded.
She later added she's "not certain about that" when asked further if any funds given to nonprofit organizations would go to defending criminal illegal immigrants.
Newsom's proposal includes earmarking $25 million to the California Department of Justice to enhance its capacity to sue the Trump administration over policies that could "harm Californians," including environmental regulations and abortion access. An additional $25 million is designated for nonprofit organizations to defend "immigrant families."
'DEVASTATING': CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALL LAST YEAR, BUT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO STORE IT
"All of this is for show, just to say, ‘Oh, we had a public hearing on these bills,’ and then we're supposed to vote," Essayli said. "We didn't get any questions answered."
Spokesperson for Newsom's office, Brandon Richards, told Fox News Digital in a statement that "none of this funding will be used to support immigration-related services for criminals. Period."
Fox News Digital followed up with Newsom's office inquiring whether funds would be used to defend any illegal immigrants in California from deportation. In response, Richards repeated his previous statement.
The Trump administration has been moving full steam ahead with first deporting illegal immigrants who have already been convicted of committing crimes. In the last week, the Department of Homeland Security said that "law enforcement officials have removed and returned 7,300 illegal aliens."
NEWSOM PROPOSES $25M FROM STATE LEGISLATURE TO 'TRUMP-PROOF' CALIFORNIA
Newsom called a special legislative session quickly after Trump's electoral victory to secure additional funding for the state's legal defense against the administration. Reacting to the development on his TruthSocial account at the time, Trump said, "He is using the term 'Trump-Proof' as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to 'Make California Great Again,' but I just overwhelmingly won the Election."
The state has a history of legal battles with the Trump administration, having filed 123 lawsuits during his first term, primarily concerning environmental, illegal immigration and healthcare issues. California was also among the first states to establish itself as a "sanctuary state" for transgender transition treatments for minors, a practice that Trump barred from receiving federal support through an executive order on Wednesday.
The California Senate has already approved Newsom's proposal, and the Assembly will vote Thursday. If the Assembly passes the measures without amendments, they will be sent to Newsom's desk by Friday.
Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
Gov. Gavin Newsom thanked President Donald Trump Friday for visiting Southern California to tour the devastation left by the fires this month, marking their first face-off since starting an ongoing online feud over the wildfire damage.
Trump traveled to Southern California Friday to see damage from the recent wildfires that destroyed thousands of acres and more than 10,000 buildings in the Los Angeles area and claimed the lives of nearly 30 people.
Newsom was waiting on the tarmac for Trump before the president exited Air Force One. The two shook hands, and Trump appeared to tug on Newsom's arm, a power move he has been known to pull on world leaders.
"Thank you first for being here. It means a great deal to all of us," Newsom told Trump after they met on the tarmac of LAX in Los Angeles just after 3 p.m. "We’re going to need your support. We’re going to need your help."
He added that Trump was with California "during COVID. I don’t forget that."
The encounter marked the first face-to-face interaction Newsom and Trump have had since Trump was sworn in as president Monday.
‘FEMA IS NOT GOOD’: TRUMP ANNOUNCES AGENCY OVERHAUL DURING VISIT TO NORTH CAROLINA
Trump said he appreciated Newsom greeting him after he arrived, adding, "I think you’re going to see some very good progress" on fire recovery.
"We want to get the problem fixed," Trump said. "It’s like you got hit by a bomb."
Making reference to some of the blame he had placed on Newsom and other California Democrats for not being properly prepared to handle the fires, he added, "We’ll get it permanently fixed so it can’t happen again."
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Trump has spent the last several weeks blaming Newsom and Democratic leadership for the extent of the wildfire damage, citing fire management and water policies.
"Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!" Trump charged in a social media post Jan. 8.
On Friday, January 24, President Donald Trump was expected to arrive in Los Angeles to see for himself the devastation caused by the recent wildfires, even as new, menacing fires broke out in Los Angeles County and elsewhere in southern California.
But it's not just the fires that are out of control. So too is the political posturing of California Democrats who seem more interested in "fighting back" against our new president than putting the interests of Californians first by asking for his help.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has railed against Trump's misinformation over the fires' causes. As usual, when the left complain about misinformation, it's really just things that are true that they don't like. It may not be comfortable for Newsom that Trump is drawing attention to the incompetence and long-term policy failures that made this disaster so much more destructive than it need have been. But Trump is right on every point.
CALIFORNIA FIRES: ESSENTIAL PHONE NUMBERS FOR LOS ANGELES-AREA RESIDENTS AND HOW YOU CAN HELP THEM
My policy organization Golden Together just published a paper with practical ideas to help Los Angeles and our state after these fires. But the Trump visit provides an immediate chance to make things happen right now.
Why can't California's leftist politicians realize that Trump's promise of a new "Golden Age" for America is also a golden opportunity for the Golden State? An opportunity to recover from these fires, rebuild faster and better, and to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.
There's been a lot of talk about federal aid to California, and whether it should have "strings attached." Ultimately, that will be determined in Congress, and as California Rep. Kevin Kiley told me in a recent interview, given California's terrible track record of wasting federal money — for example COVID-relief funds — it's vital to put safeguards around any funds that are sent to California.
But perhaps even more important than federal money is the expertise that Trump could offer. Here are three things California Democrats could ask him for, if they could just get over their pathetic political point-scoring.
We have a builder as president. Someone who has a lifetime professional understanding of how to build things quickly, economically and to high quality.
California should take advantage of this unique opportunity. Ask Trump's advice about how to get the job done in Los Angeles. We have the Super Bowl, soccer World Cup and the Olympic Games all coming up in Los Angeles in the next few years. We can't afford to waste time. We need to Build, Baby, Build as well as Drill, Baby, Drill!
Trump is, above all things, a practical leader. He's not interested in ideology, but outcomes. He just wants to get things done. I'm sure he will have incredibly useful, specific ideas about how to rebuild Los Angeles and who can help do it — listen to him!
One of the most high-profile disputes between Newsom and Trump has broken out over water, and California's failure to supply adequate water to our cities and farmers. Trump is absolutely right about this. So-called journalists mocked Trump for talking about a "giant faucet" that sends water to southern California, which Gavin Newsom restricts in order to protect a tiny fish. But in doing so, they just reveal their own ignorance.
Most of California's water supply is in the north of the state, much of it from rivers and reservoirs fed by the melting Sierra Nevada snow pack. Most of the population lives in the south, and there are two main supply routes bringing water there: the Delta-Mendota Canal, built and run by the federal government, and the California Aqueduct, run by the state. Each of these has a giant pumping station, close to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, that regulates water flow.
In his first administration, Trump ordered the federal pumping station to increase water supply. Unbelievably, California retaliated by reducing supply from the state pumping station, in order to leave more water in the Delta. Why? They themselves admit that it was to protect salmon, and the three-inch delta smelt, a species that died out in 2020 anyway, only to be revived by biologists at UC Davis.
Trump has issued a new Executive Order — Putting People Over Fish — to increase water supply in the federal system. California should welcome this instead of fighting it like last time.
On both of these issues — water, and rebuilding L.A. — there is a massive self-imposed obstacle: California's astonishing, worst-in-the-nation red tape and bureaucracy.
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In fact, this is standing in the way of getting anything done in California these days: rebuilding Los Angeles, building the new water infrastructure we desperately need, building the new homes we need to solve our housing crisis. We have the highest housing costs in America, along with the lowest homeownership. We pay the most for water, for electricity — for everything. And a huge part of the reason is the sprawling bureaucracy in Sacramento that has built up over decades of one-party rule by far-left Democrats.
Their 'climate' extremism has become an excuse for slowing down or blocking any project. Those that manage to go ahead are hit with endless, constantly changing environmental regulations pushed by unaccountable state bureaucracies like CARB (the California Air Resources Board) or the Coastal Commission. (These two, by the way, bear the lion's share of responsibility for the devastation of the L.A. fires. It was their rules that blocked vital brush-clearing work in the area.)
On top of the environmental extremism, we have over-the-top labor regulations, imposed at the behest of the unions that fund California's Democrat politicians. Extortionate labor costs and forced use of union labor mean many construction projects are killed because they are just not viable. And on top of that, the taxes, fees, permits and mind-boggling bureaucratic processes all add up to give California the worst business climate in America — 10 years in a row.
Trump knows how to deal with all of this. He put Elon Musk in charge of getting rid of federal bureaucracy: now let's do the same in the state with the worst bureaucracy in America. Yes, it's time to DOGE California!
California desperately needs a dose of common sense and competence. President Trump can help provide it — if only Gavin Newsom and the rest of his California Democrats will listen.
When President Donald Trump lands in California on Friday to survey the devastating wildfires that have ravaged metropolitan Los Angeles this month, the state's Democratic governor will be among the officials greeting him.
But Gov. Gavin Newsom appeared to be showing up uninvited.
"I look forward to being there on the tarmac to thank the president, welcome him, and we’re making sure that all the resources he needs for a successful briefing are provided to him," Newsom told reporters on the eve of Trump's stop in Los Angeles.
A couple of hours before Trump touched down in Los Angeles, Newsom director of communications Izzy Gardon told Fox News Digital that "in coordination with the White House, the governor will greet President Trump on the tarmac upon his arrival in California."
"The governor is committed to advocating for the needs of Californians in partnership with the federal administration," he emphasized.
Since the fires, which have killed nearly 30 people and forced tens of thousands to flee their homes, broke out earlier this month, Trump has repeatedly criticized Newsom's handling of the immense crisis. He has accused the governor of mismanaging forestry and water policy and, pointing to intense backlash over a perceived lack of preparation, has called on Newsom to step down.
UNINVITED NEWSOM SAYS HE'LL BE ON TARMAC TO GREET AND BRIEF TRUMP
"Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!" Trump charged in a social media post on Jan. 8, as he repeated a derogatory name he often labels the governor.
And in his first Oval Office interview since returning to power in the White House, Trump told Fox News' Sean Hannity this week, "This fire was just raging, and then it would catch to another area, another area, another area."
"It took a week and a half — and I’ve never seen anything like it. We look so weak," Trump argued during his appearance on "Hannity," as he pointed towards his repeated claim that a main reason the blazes raged was because firefighters didn't have access to water.
TRUMP PLEDGES FEMA OVERHAUL DURING STOP IN HURRICANE RAVAGED WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
Trump and some top Republicans in Congress have pushed toward placing conditions on continuing the massive federal wildfire aid to California in order to force policy changes.
The president said on Friday, ahead of his arrival in Los Angeles, that he wanted to see "two things" before he would support federal disaster relief funds for California.
"I want to see two things in Los Angeles: Voter ID so that the people have a chance to vote. And I want to see the water be released and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state. Those are the two things. After that, I will be the greatest president that California has ever seen," Trump said.
Newsom on Thursday signed a $2.5 billion state relief package. But California will need much more help from the federal government.
And Newsom — the governor of the nation's most populous state, one of the Democratic Party's leaders in the resistance against the returning president and a potential White House contender in 2028 — has pushed back, as the two larger-than-life politicians trade fire.
The governor has noted that reservoirs in the southern part of California were full when the fires first sparked, and has argued that no amount of water could tackle fires fueled by winds of up to 100 miles per hour.
Newsom has also charged Trump has spread "hurricane-force winds of mis- and disinformation."
And in a letter to Congress last week, Newsom emphasized that "our long national history of responding to natural disasters, no matter where they occur, has always been Americans helping Americans, full stop."
The wildfires are far from the first time Newsom and Trump have taken aim at each other. Their animosity dates back to before Trump was elected president the first time in 2016, when Newsom was California's lieutenant governor.
The verbal fireworks continued over the past two years, as Newsom served as a top surrogate on the campaign trail for former President Joe Biden and then former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden as the Democrats' 2024 standard-bearer last summer.
Following Trump's convincing election victory over Harris in November, Newsom moved to "Trump-proof" his heavily blue state.
"He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election," Trump responded.
While pushing back against Trump's attacks amid the wildfires, Newsom also knows he needs to work with the president.
Newsom, who two weeks ago invited Trump to come to California to survey the damage, said in a statement on Monday following the inauguration ceremony, "I look forward to President Trump’s visit to Los Angeles and his mobilization of the full weight of the federal government to help our fellow Americans recover and rebuild."
He emphasized "finding common ground and striving toward shared goals" with the Trump administration.
"In the face of one of the worst natural disasters in America’s history, this moment underscores the critical need for partnership, a shared commitment to facts, and mutual respect — values that enable civil discourse, effective governance, and meaningful action," the governor said.
Veteran California-based political scientist Jack Pitney at Claremont McKenna College noted that "this is a very difficult balance" for Newsom.
"As a governor of California, he needs to work with the president to get federal aid for the state. As a national political figure, he feels pressure to attack Trump. It’s hard to do both of those at the same time," Pitney told Fox News.
Fox News' Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
During his inaugural address, President Donald Trump criticized California's response to the Los Angeles wildfires as he is scheduled to visit the Golden State to survey the damage on Friday.
Trump has been vocal of his disapproval of the way California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have handled the fire response, accusing them of "gross incompetence," even suggesting that Newsom resign as governor.
In his first televised sit-down interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity since returning to the White House, Trump ripped Newsom for his leadership leading up to the deadly wildfires and his defense of sanctuary cities.
"If you actually polled the people, they don’t want sanctuary cities," Trump told Hannity. "But Gavin Newsom does, and these radical left politicians do. I watched Gavin Newsom try to answer that question. He looked like an idiot. He was unable to answer."
Trump claimed the lack of forest management and Newsom's reported refusal to allow stormwater from the north to flow down freely to Southern California helped contribute to one of the most destructive wildfires in the state's history.
Izzy Gardon, director of communications for Newsom's office, previously combated criticism of the governor's wildfire handling in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need," Gardon said.
On Thursday, Newsom signed off on a relief package where the state will spend $2.5 billion to help with the Los Angeles wildfires recovery.
"This is about distilling a sense of hopefulness," Newsom said during a news conference.
Newsom's administration added that the state expects to be reimbursed by the federal government for the disaster relief funding.
It is not known if Trump plans to meet with Newsom during his visit Friday.
"We are glad President Trump accepted the governor’s invitation to come to Los Angeles," Newsom's office told Fox News Digital. "We are glad he took our invitation to heart."
Trump's criticism of California and Newsom's leadership in the state spans years, with the president singling out forest management, sanctuary cities, homelessness, crime and spending as contributing factors to the state's condition.
Trump is not the only person ripping Newsom for what is happening in California.
In the aftermath of the deadly Los Angeles wildfires, actor Mel Gibson, along with a number of other elite residents, accused Newsom and elected officials of mishandling the prevention and response to the disaster.
"As a citizen here, Newsom and [Los Angeles Mayor Karen] Bass, they want us to trust them to reimagine the city, our city, and how they think it should be. I mean, look at what they’ve done so far to this town," Gibson said in a previous exclusive interview with Fox News contributor Raymond Arroyo.
"You got nothing but rampant crime, acute homelessness, high taxes, mismanagement of water, firefighters, defunding the department, and we’re supposed to trust them with millions of dollars to sort of remake where we live? It’s our city, it’s the city of the people, and they have another plan. … There’s still people from the Woolsey Fire still living in trailers. … When have you ever seen the government ‘build back better’? … At the very least, it's insensitive."
The massive and deadly fires broke out in the Los Angeles area on Jan. 7, forcing tens of thousands of residents to flee for safety as their homes and businesses were destroyed.
Gibson also told Arroyo the elected officials’ mismanagement is another reason why Americans continue to flee the city.
Other celebrities, including Justine Bateman, called out Newsom and other Los Angeles officials to be removed from office because of the fires.
The governor's office previously shared a letter addressing water hydrants running out of water, stating that "while overall water supply in Southern California is not an issue, water mobility in the initial response was an issue."
"That is why @CAGovernor Newsom has ordered a full, independent review of LADWP. This cannot happen again," the post read.
Prior to the Los Angeles wildfire crisis, California leadership were being scrutinized for not being able to explain what happened to $24 billion meant to curb the homelessness issue.
California GOP leaders are calling for more accountability after the state auditor found that despite roughly $24 billion spent on homeless and housing programs during the 2018-2023 fiscal years, the problem didn’t improve in many cities.
The report also uncovered that the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH), which is responsible for coordinating agencies and allocating resources for homelessness programs, stopped tracking whether the programs were working in 2021.
The audit found it also failed to collect and evaluate outcome data for these programs due to the lack of a consistent method.
California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher laid the blame on the Newsom administration.
"This is standard Gavin Newsom – make a splashy announcement, waste a bunch of taxpayer money, and completely fail to deliver," Gallagher said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
"Californians are tired of the homeless crisis, and they’re even more tired of Gavin’s excuses. We need results – period, full stop."
Despite the audit’s findings, Cal ICH said it has made improvements in data collection after AB 977 took effect on Jan. 1, 2023.
In a previous statement, Newsom's office said, "The State of California’s doing more than ever. We'll continue to do more. But this will be my final words on this: If we don't see demonstrable results, I'll start to redirect money. I'm not interested in status quo any longer. And that will start in January with the January budget. We've been providing the support to local government that embraces those efforts and focuses on a sense of urgency — and we're going to double down. If local government is not interested, we'll redirect the money to parts of the state, cities and counties that are."
Adding to the list of missteps made by California leadership: the decades-delayed and over-budget "train to nowhere."
California Republicans have reported that the state’s long-awaited high-speed rail network is nearly $100 billion over budget and decades behind schedule.
Former Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who left office in early 2011, first introduced the high-speed rail system project, and his Democrat successor, Gov. Jerry Brown, continued the project.
Shortly after taking office in 2019, Newsom acknowledged in his first State of the State address that he would scale the project down from its original ambitious plan, saying it would cost too much and take too long to stay the course.
Months later, the Trump administration penned a scathing letter to California, informing the state that it was rescinding the multibillion-dollar grant awarded for the project under the Obama administration.
BIDEN ADMIN SENDS BILLIONS TO CALIFORNIA'S OVER-BUDGET, BEHIND-SCHEDULE 'TRAIN TO NOWHERE'
However, in June 2021, the Biden administration said it would reverse the decision and restore the funding. The Biden administration then sent California more than $3 billion in federal taxpayer funds in 2023.
In December 2024, several prominent California Democrats called on the U.S. Department of Transportation to approve a grant application for $536 million in federal funds to move forward with the project.
If approved, the federal funds will be boosted by $134 million in state money from California’s "cap & trade" program, according to the Sacramento Bee.
The project was originally planned as a $33 billion project consisting of 1,955 miles of railway connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles. Since then, the cost has ballooned to $113 billion and the project's scope has been dramatically scaled down to a 171-mile railway connecting Bakersfield, Fresno and Merced that isn't expected to be operational until 2030.
Overall, if the project is completed in 2030, it will have taken a decade longer than expected while costing $80 billion more and being 91% smaller than originally planned. Because of its repeated shortfalls, the project has been dubbed by critics as the "train to nowhere."
Newsom's office did not immediately provide a response.
During the presidential election, Trump went after his opponent, former Vice President Kamala Harris, on the decades-old criminal justice policy crippling California.
Harris was not actually involved with pushing Prop 47 and did not take a stance on the issue throughout the campaign.
The ballot measure overwhelmingly passed in the deep-blue state and rolled back some of California's most controversial soft-on-crime policies.
Proposition 36, the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, sought to undo portions of Proposition 47 by increasing penalties for some crimes, including classifying the possession of fentanyl as a felony.
When Proposition 47 passed in 2014, it downgraded most thefts from felonies to misdemeanors if the amount stolen was under $950, "unless the defendant had prior convictions of murder, rape, certain sex offenses, or certain gun crimes."
Proposition 47 also reclassified some felony drug offenses as misdemeanors.
The initiative has been blamed by law enforcement officials and businesses for the rise in theft and smash-and-grabs that plagued California in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Newsom remained opposed to the effort, saying it "takes us back to the 1980s, mass incarceration."
He also touted that California’s $950 threshold is the "10th lowest, meaning tougher than states like Texas ($2,500) or Alabama ($1,500) or Mississippi ($1,000)." His office noted that "Prop 47 did not change that threshold and neither did Prop 36."
California Labor Secretary Julie Su attempted to put the blame on Trump's first administration for "failing to provide guidance to foil sophisticated unemployment schemes" after state officials reported that at least $11.4 billion in unemployment benefits paid during the COVID-19 pandemic involved fraud.
Officials added that another $20 billion in possible losses was also being investigated.
In January 2021, Su said that of the $114 billion the state paid in unemployment claims during the coronavirus pandemic, 10%, or $11.4 billion, involved fraud and another 17% was under investigation.
CALIFORNIA UNEMPLOYMENT FRAUD SCANDAL GROWS TO $11 BILLION, WITH ANOTHER $20 BILLION UNDER SCRUTINY
"There is no sugarcoating the reality," Su said in a previous press conference. "California has not had sufficient security measures in place to prevent this level of fraud, and criminals took advantage of the situation."
Nearly all the fraudulent claims were paid through the federally supported Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. The program was approved by Congress to provide unemployment assistance to those who usually wouldn’t be eligible, such as independent contractors.
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Officials added that the program’s broad eligibility requirements made it an easy target for criminals, including from Russia and Nigeria. In December, 21,000 prisoners scored more than $400 million from the state, including 100 prisoners on death row.
"It should be no surprise that EDD was overwhelmed, just like the rest of the nation’s unemployment agencies," Su said. "As millions of Californians applied for help, international and national criminal rings were at work behind the scenes working relentlessly to steal unemployment benefits using sophisticated methods of identity theft."
The governor's office did not immediately provide a response.
Fox News Digital's Bradford Betz, Stephanie Giang-Paunon, Morgan Phillips, Thomas Catenacci, Jamie Joseph and Charlie Creitz contributed to this report.
With President Biden now in political retirement, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is quickly becoming one of President Trump's top targets.
And Trump, minutes into his second term as president, used his inauguration address inside the U.S. Capitol to take aim at the Democratic governor of the nation's most populous state.
"Our country can no longer deliver basic services in times of emergency," Trump argued. And he pointed to "Los Angeles, where we are watching fires still tragically burned from weeks ago without even a token of defense."
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Trump this month has repeatedly criticized Newsom's handling of the horrific wildfires that have razed parts of metropolitan Los Angeles, killing nearly 30 people and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes.
POLITICAL FIRESTORM: NEWSOM DEFENDS HIS EFFORTS TO FIGHT CALIFORNIA'S HORRIFIC BLAZES
The governor's press office quickly pushed back, posting on social media four photos of firefighters tackling the blazes.
Trump will head to California on Friday to get a firsthand view of the firefighting and recovery efforts.
"I’m going to go out there on Friday to see it and to get it moving back," Trump said at an inaugural eve rally in the nation's capital. "We’re going to get some of the best builders in the world. We’ll get it moving back."
Newsom, who over a week ago invited Trump to California, said in a statement on Monday following the inauguration ceremony, "I look forward to President Trump’s visit to Los Angeles and his mobilization of the full weight of the federal government to help our fellow Americans recover and rebuild."
And he emphasized "finding common ground and striving toward shared goals" with the Trump administration.
"In the face of one of the worst natural disasters in America’s history, this moment underscores the critical need for partnership, a shared commitment to facts, and mutual respect – values that enable civil discourse, effective governance, and meaningful action," the governor said.
Newsom added that "where our shared principles are aligned, my administration stands ready to work with the Trump-Vance administration to deliver solutions and serve the nearly 40 million Californians we jointly represent."
Newsom was a top surrogate on the 2024 campaign trail for Biden and later former Vice President Kamala Harris, who replaced Biden last summer as the Democrats' nominee.
The governor, who is term-limited and likely has national ambitions in 2028, was a vocal Trump critic on the 2024 campaign trail and has taken a lead in leading the Democratic Party's resistance in the wake of Trump's presidential election victory.
The tragedies of Los Angeles’ recent fires are suffocating and impossible to wrap my mind around as a born-and-raised California mom who evacuated our forever home at 4 a.m. on Jan. 8.
I’m heartbroken. I’m livid. I’m praying. I’m guilty of emerging unscathed (so far). I’m vigilantly searching for answers while preparing for the next round of "Particularly Dangerous Event" winds. My own kids are asking me terrifying questions, and I’m answering with a faked "everything will be OK for everyone" confidence that only parents know how to do.
How did California leadership fail families so egregiously? They traded the time-tested value of responsibility for empty trends of "diversity, equity and inclusion."
I don’t believe in politicizing tragedies – especially of this magnitude – but unfortunately, some tragedies are exacerbated by political motives and actions (or rather, inactions). With some estimates of damages to be upwards of $250 billion and 24 innocent people dead as of this writing, NOW is the time for us to be vigilant in asking questions and planning solutions for our children’s future.
CALIFORNIA’S POLITICIANS DIDN’T START THE FIRES. THEY MADE THEM WORSE
I’ll recap just some of California and Los Angeles’ documented priorities for taxpaying citizens over the last several years:
IN LA, YOU CAN SMELL THE SMOKE AND FEEL THE RAGE. CALIFORNIA CAN CHANGE. IT STARTS NOW
Were fires inevitable given the conditions? Of course. But, a lack of responsibility from leaders partnered with DEI-driven priorities failed to mitigate carnage – as shamelessly showcased by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, and even the guy who allegedly oversaw the county-wide emergency alert system when it repeatedly alerted 10 million people to "Evacuate Now" by mistake. ("I’m so sorry, I messed up," I heard him say on the radio. At least he admitted it, unlike others.)
My own teens have a better sense of responsibility and impending consequences than our elected and appointed officials. According to credible reports, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power previously drained the city’s second-largest reservoir near Pacific Palisades and failed to notify county or city fire departments.
Mayor Karen Bass abandoned the city under her watch and traveled to Africa despite National Weather Service warnings of unprecedented and dangerous fire conditions on Jan. 3.
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Years of budget cuts in areas that warrant priority – including Newsom reportedly slashing over $100 million from fire preparedness in 2024 – continue to deplete resources and exacerbate potential decimation, like we’re experiencing now.
Major fires are not unexpected in California. By all evidence, our leaders at the top are making irresponsible choices not rooted in hindsight, current events or fact-based projections. As a mom who constantly reminds my kids to think ahead, I am infuriated.
As parents, we can hold leaders accountable in public forums and call on our representatives to revisit and reverse failing policies. But, more importantly, we must raise our children to understand the seriousness of responsibility, value merit and fear consequences.
The "there’s no wrong or right" parenting mentality has got to stop. The "you do you" philosophy in schools must end. The obsession with abandoning merit-based standards and skills in education and the workplace – to check boxes based on sexuality, gender and perceived inequalities – must die. Responsibility and accountability are the bedrock for maintaining a free, functioning, and safe society. (It’s one of our foundational principles for creating PragerU Kids.)
California leadership failed families. Blatant irresponsibility and DEI-focused priorities are now proven accomplices to physical, mental and spiritual destruction for hundreds of thousands – with no end in sight. Not on this California mom’s watch. Teach the kids before it’s too late.
Californians may have a "reawakening" that could trigger a "political shock" among the nation's top decision-makers after the state's highly criticized response to the Los Angeles wildfires brought to light the state's vulnerability and leadership failures, historian Victor Davis Hanson predicts.
"So, there is a group of people in California that could fuel a revolt of liberals or Democrats," Hanson, a Hoover Institution public policy think tank senior fellow, told Fox News Digital in an interview on Tuesday.
That group of people could include the wealthy on the coastal line whose homes were destroyed or damaged by the wildfires that broke out Jan. 7. Several celebrities, including filmmaker Mel Gibson and actor Michael Rapaport, openly blasted California leadership for its response to the crisis as the blaze destroyed several Los Angeles districts.
NEWSOM CALLS FOR LOOTING TO BE A FELONY IN EVACUATION ZONES AMID LA INFERNO
"So, the shock of LA is most of the people that were burned out in Pacific Palisades or on the areas around it were very, very left-wing and very wealthy," Hanson said. "And this was what's shocking politically, because the consequences of their votes and their ideology had never really personally affected them to this degree.
"This is going to be an accelerant or a force multiplier. That's because it affects two different groups of people," Hanson explained. "It affects the very wealthy. For the first time, they got firebombed. Looks like Dresden, and that's going to be $300 or $400 billion when it's all over. And they're going to have to deal with the Coastal Commission, the Los Angeles Planning Commission and permits for building. And they're going to be irate when they have to do that.
"The net result is, I don't think any California politician is going to have a national profile after this."
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' absence during the first 24 hours of the inferno, coupled with empty hydrants, a malfunctioning reservoir, a defunded fire department and a lack of new water infrastructure — despite Gov. Gavin Newsom's backing of billions for new reservoirs — highlighted severe flaws in the state's response, noted by lawmakers and experts.
The state’s response to the crisis has fueled further criticism, particularly regarding its bureaucracy. In response, Newsom signed an executive order Sunday to suspend certain state commission requirements, aiming to speed up the rebuilding process for homeowners.
"Goodbye, red tape," Newsom wrote in a post on X. "Through an executive order, we are making it easier for victims of the SoCal fires to quickly rebuild their homes and lives."
"If he could do it now, why didn't he do it before the fire?" Hanson said of the order.
Another issue that has been a multiyear problem is California's loss of residents to red states. Dubbed the "California exodus" by experts, California has lost hundreds of thousands of residents over the past few years, many of them citing high taxes, unaffordable housing, crime and difficult business regulations.
'DEVASTATING': CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALL LAST YEAR, BUT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO STORE IT
Many former California residents have relocated to states with lower taxes and more business-friendly environments, such as Texas, Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina. Top companies — Tesla, Oracle, Charles Schwab and Chevron — have also moved to other states.
Nearly 240,000 people moved out of California between 2023 and 2024, according to the Census Bureau. This was the largest net domestic migration loss in the country during that time period. Between April 2020 and July 2022, the state saw a net loss of more than 700,000 residents.
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"They're getting very, very angry that it's hard to do business … and they are angry at the gasoline prices," Hanson said. "And so I think there's the potential, if there were a clever, adroit, enlightened Republican candidate or political figure that could capitalize on. So far, the Republican Party doesn't know what to do. They don't know whether to go left and try to accommodate this left-wing population or go further right and galvanize it.
"There's no dissenting voices … and I think that's going to change after what we saw."
There were many things that preceded the "nonsensical" response from Los Angeles and California state leaders to the devastating wildfires that continue to blaze across the region, according to historian and political commentator Victor Davis Hanson.
"To mitigate you have to know what went wrong, and there were short-term and long-term problems," Davis, a Hoover Institution public policy think tank senior fellow, told Fox News Digital in a Tuesday interview. "And I don't think climate change played a role, at least a non-immediate role."
Davis described the situation as a "woke green hydrogen bomb" — from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass' absence during the critical first 24 hours of the inferno to empty fire hydrants, a dysfunctional reservoir, a defunded fire department and a lack of new water infrastructure despite Gov. Gavin Newsom's support of the billions of dollars earmarked to address it.
"It's a very fragile system," Hanson said. "What Gavin Newsom did not do is he did not take the allotted money and build the reservoirs that would have accommodated the increased population. Number two, that water that is being pumped across the [Sacramento-San Joaquin River] Delta, he let go out into the bay under the demands of environmentalists. He said in his defense that the reservoirs are full. That's not true. If you look at the biggest one, it's only 75% full, and we are in a semi-drought right now."
Newsom told NBC News in a pretaped interview that aired Sunday, "The reservoirs are completely full — the state reservoirs here in Southern California. That mis- and disinformation, I don’t think, advantages or aids any of us."
But as of Tuesday, Shasta Lake, California's largest reservoir, was at 77% capacity, holding approximately 3.52 million acre-feet of water out of its total capacity of 4.55 million acre-feet, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.
California's existing reservoirs can only hold so much water, and many were built in the mid-20th century.
In 2014, Golden State voters passed Proposition 1, also known as the Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act, which authorized $2.7 billion in bonds to increase the state's water storage capacity through building new reservoirs and groundwater storage facilities. Yet as of January, no new reservoirs have been completed under Prop. 1.
In 2024, the state experienced record-breaking rainfall after an atmospheric river event, but the existing water infrastructure faced difficulties managing the sudden influx of water. A significant portion of that rainfall was dumped into the ocean as the state struggles to properly store water, multiple California agencies said.
"There was a roughly 120 million gallon reservoir that could have been used because they only had three million in reserve — that would have probably made the difference," Hanson said. "That had been idle for almost a year, and it was because the cover was torn. It was just nonsensical."
The out-of-order reservoir Hanson referred to, known as the Santa Ynez Reservoir in Pacific Palisades, has been closed for repairs since February due to a tear in its covering, which was designed to maintain the water quality, the Los Angeles Times first reported Tuesday.
Hanson has a Central Valley farm that relies on snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada Mountains, he explained.
In California’s Central Valley, farming water typically comes from the Sierra, mainly through the San Joaquin River system, which is supported by major dams like Shaver, Huntington and Pine Flat. That water is often released into the Sacramento River, which flows into the Delta. Despite increasing demand, no new dams have been built on the San Joaquin system in decades.
On the west side of the valley, water comes from snowmelt in northern California’s Cascade Range and northern Sierra, filling larger reservoirs like Oroville and Folsom. These reservoirs were designed to store water during wet years, ensuring a steady supply in average years and a backup for drought years.
However, California has faced a prolonged dry spell, with little rain or snow in recent weeks, causing reservoir levels to drop.
"So when Gavin Newsom says, well, 'they're full,' they're not all full, but they're descending at a rapid rate, because he will not stop the releases to the ocean," Hanson said. "They're still going on, as you and I speak, and they're not pumping 100% of it to the aqueduct, which serves agriculture in Los Angeles."
During an interview with NBC earlier this week, Newsom claimed the reservoirs were full. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Newsom's office said he was referring to the state-managed reservoirs in Southern California.
Newsom, meanwhile, has shifted the blame to local management and ordered an independent review of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
"We need answers to how that happened," Newsom wrote to the department's director and the director of Los Angeles County Public Works on Jan. 10, regarding reports of lost water supply.
'DEVASTATING': CALIFORNIA HAD RECORD RAINFALL LAST YEAR, BUT LACKED INFRASTRUCTURE TO STORE IT
For his part, Newsom also proposed allocating at least $2.5 billion in additional funding to bolster California's emergency response and recovery efforts in Los Angeles, his office announced on Monday.
The proposed funding would support recovery and cleanup operations, enhance wildfire preparedness and assist in reopening schools closed due to the fires. The funding would come from the state's Disaster Response Emergency Operations Account, with $1.5 billion coming from speeding up the use of climate bond funds for immediate use, according to his office.
There has been a slight increase in containment for the deadly Palisades and Eaton fires burning in Los Angeles County, according to a Wednesday night update from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The Palisades fire, the larger of the two at 23,713 acres burned as of Wednesday, is at 21% containment after its ignition in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood more than a week ago, according to the department.
The Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area was at 45% containment as of Wednesday night. Both fires broke out on Jan. 7.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Bass spokesperson Zack Seidl said, "Mayor Bass is leading our city through one of the worst crises in our history. Hurricane-force winds and unseasonably dry conditions drove these firestorms – misinformation surrounding this crisis has been staggering. Mayor Bass issued a sweeping executive order to clear the way to rebuild homes fast and that will do everything she can to get Angelenos back home. She has secured the federal, state, and local resources we need to continue fighting these fires and is moving forward on an all-of-the-above plan for recovery."
Fox News Digital's Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
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