Homelessness has long been a political albatross for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, haunting him not only during his tenure as governor but also as mayor of San Francisco. It’s also the one issue he has fully blamed on local officials as he prepares to leave the governor’s office and set his sights on a 2028 presidential run. 

“Time to do your job,” he said during a recent news conference where he publicly scolded them. “People are dying on their watch — dying on their watch. How do people get reelected? Look at these encampments. They’re a disgrace. They’ve been there years and years and years and years.”

Recommended Stories

• New Jersey Republicans confident about gubernatorial win as odds shift
• DNC vote on David Hogg's fate unites Democratic incumbents
• Georgia lawmaker Derrick Jackson becomes fourth Democrat to announce gubernatorial bid

Since 2019, the state has provided grants for local governments to control their homelessness crisis. Newsom has said he wants cities and counties to meet benchmarks for passing ordinances and increasing shelter capacities. But despite throwing billions of dollars at the problem, homelessness has only gotten worse on his watch, and the criticism has set Newsom off. He’s even threatened to pull funding. 

“I’m not interested,” he said. “I’m just not — as a taxpayer, not just governor, I’m not interested in funding failure anymore. I’m not.”

gavin Newsom’s bold plans have a habit of blowing up

Two decades ago, Newsom, who was running to be mayor of San Francisco, claimed, “I own this” crisis. Since then, he has blamed everyone but himself for it.

Homelessness isn’t the only area where the Democratic governor has pointed fingers. 

He blamed the massive budget deficit on President Donald Trump, criticized local governments for the state’s wildfires, claimed Republicans were responsible for California’s cost-of-living issues, and even faulted his own party in sharp terms for its 2024 White House defeat. 

Local and state officials have expressed frustration over the years at being scapegoated on complicated issues such as homelessness and mental illness, which require coordinated efforts between local, state, and federal agencies. 

Critics say Newsom has gotten away with shifting the blame for California’s problems and warn that it could bite him if he launches his widely anticipated 2028 bid.

Assemblyman Carl DeMaio (R-CA) told the Washington Examiner he’s grown increasingly frustrated watching Newsom avoid accountability.

“Gavin Newsom is a guy who’s never earned anything in his life,” DeMaio said. “He’s always been anointed and given his positions by special interests. He’s like the fraternity president who doesn’t go to class, doesn’t do his homework, but because he gives out free beer at the parties, everyone does his school work for him, and he’s hoping no one figures out that he’s in over his head. So, the one thing he does very well is that he’s a very capable liar, and any time he gets in trouble, he deflects, he denies, he distorts, and he tries to blame all of his problems on other people.” 

DeMaio accused the California media of giving the governor cover but said a White House bid could open Newsom and his policies up to tougher scrutiny.

“I think it would be terrible if he ever stepped foot in the Oval Office, but the one silver lining of Newsom’s ambitious run for president is that he will finally be exposed for the fraud and failure that he is,” DeMaio said. 

Jeff Le, managing principal at 100 Mile Strategies LLC and former deputy Cabinet secretary to former Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA), told the Washington Examiner that blaming Trump is an easy out for Newsom.

“Governor Newsom is about to finish the budget process and prepare for his final year in the job next year,” Le said. “While he works to build on his legacy in Sacramento, he also is preparing for the path to national-level politics and likely presidential primary gauntlet. Balancing these two efforts can go hand in hand. President Trump’s approval in the state is low, and a recent PPIC Statewide Survey found his numbers at 30%.

“So he can find ways to point to the president on several unpopular issues with the California electorate in mind. That said, the governor is responsible for state matters, which does include fire response and recovery, as well as finding ways to finesse the increase in housing costs and growing lack of affordability.” 

Democratic political consultant Darry Sragow sees Newsom’s time in office differently. He told the Washington Examiner that Newsom has always been aspirational but has had trouble following through. 

“I think that there are those in the world of California politics who would describe Gavin Newsom as somebody with a long history of proposing initiatives without necessarily laying out all the groundwork,” Sragow said. “That seems to be part of who he is as a person. I don’t think he’s trying to shift the blame; I think what’s more to the point is that he is aspirational.

“When you’re a governor or a mayor or a lieutenant governor — and he’s been all three — it’s very different than being a legislator. A legislator can propose and enact programs without being responsible for the day-to-day execution and ultimate success of those programs, but when you’re a chief executive officer at the state or city level, you have to implement programs. It’s very different than just having ideas. It’s easy to lob charges at Gavin Newsom over a variety of things, because he is aspirational and he is bold and he can think outside of the box, but ultimately if he holds an executive position, he’s got to make it happen.”

Homelessness

Perhaps the greatest challenge Newsom will face going forward is criticism of his handling of the homelessness crisis. 

The fact is, Californians have consistently cited homelessness as one of the top problems facing the state, and last year, it hit record highs. 

Of the country’s 771,500 people experiencing homelessness, more than 187,000, about 24%, lived in California. Two in three were unsheltered, accounting for almost half of the country’s unsheltered population, according to the Public Policy Institute of California. 

Overall, homelessness grew at a higher rate in the country, about 18%, than in California, which saw a 3% increase from 2023 to 2024. 

Newsom has promised to reduce homelessness since he ran for mayor of San Francisco. On the campaign trail for governor, he pledged to appoint a homelessness czar, tasked with cutting through red tape and solving the crisis. When asked who he would tap for the position, he said, “You know who’s the homeless czar? I’m the homeless czar in the state of California.” 

As governor, Newsom also devoted almost an entire State of the State address to the issue, and his administration has spent more than $24 billion to reduce homelessness. 

With little to show for the effort, Newsom has started blaming local governments, arguing that their inaction hinders progress.

“The Governor is fed up with excuses, delays, and flat-out refusal by locals to follow state law to create housing and address homelessness,” Tara Gallegos, a Newsom spokeswoman, told the Washington Examiner. “The Governor expects local governments to use the unprecedented funding provided to them, including the billions of funding that has been allocated to locals but not yet spent, to get people off the streets and connected to the help they need. Local governments have an obligation under state law to address homelessness and create more housing.”

Brad Chase, founder of Chase Global, which specializes in crisis management and public affairs, faulted Newsom for his policies but said he may escape scrutiny on a national level. 

“The buck should stop with the governor in any state, but Newsom has dodged accountability his entire adult life,” Chase told the Washington Examiner. “When 2028 rolls around, his failure on homelessness will be a big attack point for Republicans, but it won’t land with most voters.”

Chase added that the governor’s “biggest policy weakness, homelessness, doesn’t impact people as much in the other 49 states.” 

Trump slump or Gavin’s gap?

When Newsom presented his revised budget a few weeks ago, the state went from having a small surplus at the start of 2025 to $12 billion in the red five months later. A large screen next to Newsom showed two words: Trump Slump.

Newsom blamed his budget shortfall on Trump’s tariffs and suggested the state had suffered unjustly. 

“We don’t live in Plato’s Republic,” Newsom said. “California is under assault. The United States of America, in many respects, is under assault because we have a president that’s been reckless in terms of assaulting those growth engines. Best to call this a Trump Slump.”

Newsom’s Department of Finance estimated that Trump’s tariffs will damage state revenues by $16 billion, though the office did not specify which tariffs the calculations were based on. The governor also said the wildfires in Los Angeles, which ravaged entire neighborhoods, took an economic toll on the state and forced state and federal officials to delay tax deadlines in the county. 

Republican lawmakers pushed back on Newsom’s claims, arguing that state spending has surged under his leadership.

“Trump slump? Frankly, I think it might be more like ‘Gavin’s Gap,’” state Sen. Roger Niello (R-CA), who serves as Vice Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, said. “Newsom’s budget legacy continues as he papers over problems. We’re looking at a budget with shifty spending and long-term pain for his short-term presidential gain.”

Wildfires

Newsom also faced criticism over the state’s handling of the wildfires, with some questioning the overall preparedness and response. Newsom, in turn, suggested on an appearance on the Pod Save America podcast that he wasn’t getting “straight answers” from local officials as to what went wrong. He cited fire hydrants losing water pressure. 

He also blamed Trump, who had likewise blamed Newsom for failing to do “a good job” at handling the crisis.

“It’s words. It’s a salad. It’s the form and substance of fog. It’s made up. It’s delusional and it’s a consistent mantra from Trump going back years and years and years, and it’s reinforced over and over and over within the right wing,” Newsom said of Trump’s criticism.

But it’s not all bad news for the governor. Even though he bears responsibility for many of the state’s shortcomings, there are also areas where he has legitimate achievements to highlight.

Gavin Newsom calls on California cities to ban homeless encampments

“There’s much to be said about California being in decline, but it’s still growing economically — now fourth-largest as opposed to fifth-largest economy when he started,” Chase said. “And for the hype of Silicon Valley elites jumping to Austin, the California tech scene is still booming. Hollywood is in a tailspin, but that’s not an industry that most people care about outside Southern California.

“And in a less sexy but more relevant industry, California’s agriculture sector remains the fifth-largest supplier in the world. For the rest of the nation, they can see headlines about California falling apart, but it’s just not a reality that can be distilled into easy facts or anecdotes.”