Newsom Urges Democrats to ‘VOTE NO’ On GOP Spending Bill: Would Let Republicans ‘Consolidate Power’

Giada Papini Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) urged Senate Democrats on Friday to “VOTE NO” on a Republican-sponsored spending bill, even though that risked causing a government shutdown.

The bill has become a divisive topic among Democrats, who are staunchly opposed to many of the recent actions of President Donald Trump’s administration, specifically the sweeping layoffs and budget cuts initiated by the Elon Musk-led DOGE.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) drew outrage from many of his fellow Democrats when he reversed his previous stance and said he would vote for the spending bill to avert a shutdown. Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) issued an unusually sharp statement urging her colleagues in the Senate to defy Schumer and vote against the bill.

Newsom weighed in with his own take in an afternoon tweet.

“Senate Democrats need to stand up and do the right thing,” wrote Newsom, because “[p]assing this bill would give Republicans 6 months to consolidate power in the Executive branch and wreak havoc on our country.”

He listed several of the Trump-Musk DOGE cuts, like “threatening” Social Security and Medicare, “[g]utting” the Department of Education, “firing veterans,” and “[v]andalizing basic environmental protections.”

Voting to pass this bill, Newsom continued, “will only allow them to continue that,” and “go on to cut funding and punish states that don’t do their bidding.”

“There’s still time to do the right thing,” he concluded. “VOTE NO.”

Earlier this week, Newsom had posted another tweet with similar language responding to one from Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) that shared a Fox News video and accused “[e]very House Democrat but one” of having “voted to shut down the government.”

“Republicans have the majority in the House and the Senate,” Newsom argued. “They control the White House.”

“You wanted to be in charge. SO here we are…” he continued, followed by a similar list of actions by the Trump administration regarding Medicaid, the Department of Education, and the EPA.

“Do not blame the Democrats for your incompetence,” he scolded. “We need to stand strong against this recklessness.”