Gov. Gavin Newsom is under fire for shifting blame to counties for his struggling homelessness plan — the latest example, critics say, of him “passing the buck” on California’s problems as he eyes a presidential bid.
Newsom pointed the finger at San Francisco and Santa Clara counties Monday, accusing them of lagging on implementing his signature policy, CARE Court. He placed ten counties on an “Improvement list” while praising others like Alameda — threatening to yank funding from counties he thinks aren’t doing enough.
“I’m happy to redirect every damn penny in these programs to the counties that are getting things done, period, full stop,” Newsom said during a news conference. “Unless they stop doing what they’ve done. Don’t make any more excuses.”
Some weren’t buying Newsom’s tough talk.
“Governor Newsom keeps passing the buck. When his CARE Court initiative falters, homelessness worsens, or gas prices rise, he blames counties or external factors instead of providing real leadership,” said state Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Huntington Beach), in a statement.
“California has real challenges and needs a real leader who can deliver with real solutions, not excuses.”
Newsom’s CARE Court has cost the state some $300 million but helped far fewer people than hoped, according to a Calmatters investigation.
Newsom initially estimated between 7,000 and 12,000 people statewide would qualify for CARE court, but California courts have received just 3,800 CARE petitions — with most tossed out in counties like San Francisco and Los Angeles.
State Sen. Roger Niello (R-Sacramento) said he supported the CARE Court idea as a way to compel mentally ill or substance-addicted people into treatment. But he pointed to Newsom’s refusal to fund similar goals through Prop. 36, which voters passed overwhelmingly in 2024, as “inconsistent and illogical.”
“Now he compounds that questionable logic by blaming the failure on local governments,” Niello told The Post.
“He has a repeated practice of blaming his own shortcomings on others.”
After the Trump administration launched strikes on Iran over the weekend, Newsom was roasted online for appearing to blame California’s gas prices, which are the highest in the nation, on the war rather than state policies that increase reliance on foreign oil.
“Everyone knows it’s Newsom’s insane climate policies that have given us the highest gas prices in the country, not ‘Trump’s war on Iran,’” Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton told The Post.
“Newsom’s ridiculous spin is a preemptive strike on the truth: that when gas prices spike even higher in the next few months in California it will be because of Newsom’s war on California oil production, hurting the working class the most. It’s just the latest example of Newsom not taking responsibility for anything,” he added.
Likewise, spending exploded under Newsom’s governorship, fueling chronic deficits — but he blamed budget woes on federal actions, according to critics.
“Gavin Newsom is exclusively focused on running for president of the United States at this point,” said Jon Fleischman, a longtime Republican political strategist. “There are lots of problems taking place with state government that he is anxious to blame on someone else — because he doesn’t want to be blamed during his campaign for national office.”
Niello pointed again to homelessness, which surged from 129,972 in 2018 to more than 187,000 in 2024 despite spending some $20 billion on state programs.
When that approach failed — a state audit called out Newsom’s homeless agency for failing to closely track how money was spent — the governor changed course alongside a new message of “it’s local government’s fault,” according to Niello.
Some counties pushed back on Newsom’s criticisms on Monday.
Santa Clara County executive James R. Williams said its approach was grounded in ”what works” rather than ”defaulting to lengthy, costly, and often inadequate court-based processes.”
“Orange County is utilizing the CARE intervention fully,” an Orange County health agency told CalMatters.
