Free Republic

In America’s most populous state, a self-inflicted energy crisis is brewing—one that threatens not just California’s economy but the nation’s security. Governor Gavin Newsom’s aggressive push toward Net Zero emissions by 2045 has accelerated the decline of the state’s oil and gas industry, leading to refinery closures, skyrocketing fuel prices, and increased reliance on foreign imports. This vulnerability exposes California—and by extension, the U.S.—to geopolitical risks from unstable oil suppliers like Brazil, Iraq, and Ecuador. But there’s a viable solution on the horizon: new pipelines from Texas that could deliver domestic gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, bolstering energy independence while...

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a rich kid from an intersection of two powerful dynasties, the Getty family and the Brown family, struggled hard to build a ‘hard-luck’ resume to make the wine country tycoon seem relatable. After trying to get someone, anyone, to buy into the idea that the son of the Getty bagman who went to an elite school was actually a poor kid, Newsom decided to claim that he struggled because of his dyslexia. The Newsom ‘dyslexia’ narrative went viral in the worst possible way when he responded to Sen. Ted Cruz calling him historically illiterate by accusing Cruz...

As national Democrats search for a unifying theme ahead of the fall’s midterm elections, a California proposal to levy a hefty tax on billionaires is turning some of the party’s leading figures into adversaries just when Democrats can least afford division from within. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders traveled to Los Angeles on Wednesday to campaign for the tax proposal, which has Silicon Valley in an uproar, with tech titans threatening to leave the state. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is among its outspoken opponents, warning that it could leave government finances in crisis and put the state at a competitive disadvantage...

LATEST Feb. 18, 12:45 p.m. The CEO of California’s High-Speed Rail Authority is on voluntary leave after an arrest earlier this month at his Sacramento-area home, multiple outlets reported. Politico and the Los Angeles Times both reported that the rail authority confirmed Ian Choudri’s leave. The rail authority did not respond to SFGATE’s inquiry. “While CEO Choudri has informed the California High-Speed Rail Authority Board that he is not aware of any evidence of wrongdoing, he has voluntarily agreed to take a temporary leave to allow the Board and our parent agency, the California State Transportation Agency, to fully review...

More California voters are now unhappy with Governor Gavin Newsom than at any point since 2024, according to a new poll. A new survey by Emerson College found that 45% of voters disapprove of the governor’s job performance— the highest number since October 2024 and a six-point increase from December 2025. Among 1,000 registered voters, Newsom had an approval rate of 44%, a three-point drop from December, the poll found. In October 2024, the governor’s disapproval rating stood at just 43%. Newsom’s office did not respond to a request for comment regarding the figures. The poll also asked voters about...

Gavin Newsom’s whirlwind weekend in Germany will cost a pretty penny, paid for by a secretive nonprofit that’s run by his longtime aides and receives money from special interests, The California Post has learned. The invite-only Munich Security Conference is being held across two luxury hotels in Old Town Munich — the Hotel Bayerischer Hof and Rosewood — and Newsom’s itinerary includes two sessions on climate change and transatlantic relations. The likely 2028 presidential candidate also plans to ink a partnership with Ukraine and have a powwow with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz while rubbing elbows with foreign leaders and business...

For the second time in three weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom has abandoned California to fly to Europe and schmooze with world leaders at the Munich Security Conference. The White House and the governor’s political adversaries have brutally dismissed Newsom’s three-day trip as wasteful showboating. Newsom has been accused of ignoring California’s growing list of problems to peacock around at the talkfest being held in two five-star hotels in Munich – while bashing America and President Trump. “Gavin Newscum’s travels to Davos and Munich would be considered a vanity project if anyone there actually knew or cared who he was,” White...

US District Judge John deGravelles ordered the release into the community of four previously convicted criminals who were being held by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). All had final orders for their deportation. The individuals and their crimes are... Ibrahim Ali Mohammed (Ethiopian) — sexual exploitation of a minor. Luis Gaston-Sanchez (Cuban) — homicide, assault, resisting an officer, concealing stolen property, and robbery. Ricardo Blanco Chomat (Cuban) — homicide, kidnapping, aggravated assault with a firearm, burglary, robbery, larceny, and selling cocaine. Francisco Rodriguez-Romero (Cuban) — homicide. Judge deGravelles explained "President Biden knew of their crimes, but he still allowed...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called on world leaders attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany to think about a future without President Donald Trump. Newsom's comments on climate policy reflected the larger theme of his message for Europe. "I hope if there is nothing else I communicate today: Donald Trump is temporary. He'll be gone in three years," Newsom said. He added, "It's important for folks to understand the temporary nature of this current administration in relationship to the issue of climate change and climate policy." He slammed the Trump administration's rollback of the 2009 "endangerment finding" and accused the...

California is committed to funding reproductive health care, pledging money to Planned Parenthood after federal funds were stripped from its clinics. On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation to provide $90 million in one-time emergency funds for Planned Parenthood and other women's health providers. President Trump's tax bill cut off Medicaid funding to abortion providers across the U.S. in July. Last week, Planned Parenthood said at least 23 of its health clinics have been forced to close, including one location in Madera. …

California First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom has unloaded on reporters at a Sacramento press conference about Planned Parenthood — accusing the mostly female journalists of inflicting a “horrific war on women” by not asking on-topic questions. The rant was part of a Siebel Newsom press blitz Wednesday after the wife of California Gov. Gavin Newsom was featured in a glossy Marie Claire profile that discussed her marriage, activist documentaries, as well as her husband saying she’d be an ”extraordinary” First Lady, as he continues. “I think she’d be extraordinary in that role, even if she married someone else and they...

In 2019, Governor Newsom promised California that he would fix the state’s failing 911 system. He even spent $450 million to build a new one. But when it came time to turn it on, it did not work. Newsom is now scrapping the plan, the $450M is apparently gone, & he’s going to spend millions more. Meanwhile, Californians remains stuck on the antiquated 911 system due to Governor Newsom’s $450 million 911 scandal. I have written Governor Newsom to get answers, given the FCC’s interest in facilitating transitions to next-gen 911 systems.

Borrowing from novelist James Hilton, who coined the word “Shangri-La” to describe a Tibetan utopia in a 1933 novel, Franklin Roosevelt gave that name to the peaceful retreat we know as Camp David. For California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Democrats, Shangri-La hasn’t become synonymous with a place that connotes peace on earth. It stands for a hellish homeless housing nightmare, eye-popping alleged fraud, and the ease and scale with which alleged con-artists rip off taxpayers. In October, federal agents arrested Cody Holmes, the 31-year-old former CFO of Shangri-La Industries, a downtown Los Angeles-based developer who was supposed to...

In the dystopian novel 1984, George Orwell wrote, “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” The true meaning of that line was never more clear than watching the truly bizarre photo op of California governor Gavin Newsom heralding the success of the greatest boondoggle in history: his high-speed train to nowhere. Without laying a single yard of track after burning $12 billion, Newsom showed a diesel freight train on a conventional track to create the appearance of a working railroad.I have been writing about this boondoggle for...

Gov. Gavin Newsom was on the pre-Super Bowl party scene Thursday night. Spies saw Newsom at two starry bashes. The politician was spotted heading into Rao’s pop-up, which is running this week before the big game. As Newsom entered, security was trying to sneak him in to keep him away from cameras and reporters asking him any questions. Our source overheard one of the guards say as they hustled Newsom by that they were trying to duck The California Post! The pop-up was a replica of Rao’s — the famed red sauce restaurant in NYC — and the night was...

California Gov. Gavin Newsom unleashed a vulgar tirade against Louisiana’s female attorney general yesterday as he defending allowing illegal abortion pills to flow into pro-life states. Newsom told a female Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill to “go ---- yourself” as he defended his state’s refusal to extradite abortionists accused of illegally mailing abortion pills to Louisiana residents, a move pro-life advocates say endangers women and unborn babies by circumventing state laws designed to protect life. The exchange erupted on social media after Newsom posted about Louisiana’s plans to sue him and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for blocking extradition requests....

Downtown Los Angeles’ infamous graffiti-covered skyscrapers may finally be closer to being cleaned up after a federal judge approved a bankruptcy exit agreement tied to the stalled Oceanwide Plaza development. The three unfinished towers have dominated the skyline since construction halted in 2019. KTLA’s Omar Lewis, reporting live from downtown Thursday morning, said residents have long pushed for action at the site. “It’s made the city a laughingstock,” one nearby resident told KTLA. “These buildings have sat empty for years. Something has to be done.” According to reporting by the Los Angeles Times, a federal bankruptcy judge signed off Tuesday...

I caught my reflection in a spoon while I was eating my cereal, and I remember thinking "wow, you're ridiculously good looking, maybe you could do that for a career." ---Derek ZoolanderDid the Gavin Newsom campaign think it was a good idea to turn to Vogue magazine for a glowing profile piece as perhaps a desperate attempt to counter the disastrous Atlantic magazine story that recently blasted the California governor who has 2028 presidential aspirations?Whoever that campaign person was could be finding his (or her) job currently at risk due to the hilarious blowback that resulted from the glam paean...

The Super Bowl is in California this week, but a football-related jab at Gov. Gavin Newsom has just touched down in none other than New York City. The billboard, paid for by the California Business and Industrial Alliance, criticizes Newsom by comparing him to the sad-sack New York Jets.

The one thing Newsom is good at is destroying the Golden State If I was the leftist governor of the largest state in the U.S. and my unspoken goal and unholy plan was to destabilize and destroy my state, there are certain policies I would impose, and executive orders I’d make, while insulating myself from my own policies: Cut water off to rural areas in the state; remove dams and hydroelectric plants. Limit water deliveries to farmers and ranchers, forcing farmers and ranchers to shut down. Create a housing shortage. Raise the minimum wage so high, restaurant owners are forced...