Newsom, who belongs to the opposition Democrats, said he would also quickly provide $80 million (69 million euros) in government support to provide food to those in need. “Trump’s failure isn’t abstract — it’s literally taking the food out of people’s mouths,” Newsom said.
Newsom is considered a vehement critic of US President Donald Trump. The governor is expected to run for the White House in 2027 as the Democratic nominee. In June he clashed with Trump because he had mobilized the National Guard and soldiers in California for the first time against his will. The US government responded to protests against raids and arrests by the immigration agency ICE.
A household lockdown has been in effect in the USA for more than three weeks. Hundreds of thousands of federal government employees are currently not being paid because of the so-called shutdown.
Payments to some of the country’s poorest people will also expire in the coming days unless an agreement is reached. This affects, among other things, the government-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap). Snap issues payment cards to low-income households so they can purchase fruits and vegetables, meat and dairy products. More than 42 million people in the USA rely on the support – in California alone there are around 5.5 million people.
The budget freeze in the USA came into force on October 1st after Republicans and Democrats in Congress were unable to agree on an interim budget. The shutdown will only end when a transitional budget is passed – and this is still not in sight.
