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Newsom Demands $33,000 Portrait as State Faces $18 Billion Deficit

Gavin Newsom has never been shy about spending other people’s money. But his latest scheme takes the cake, and it’s almost impressive in its shamelessness. The California governor wants taxpayers to fork over $33,000 for an official portrait of himself. Yes, you read that right. While the state stares down an $18 billion budget deficit, Governor Hair Gel thinks now is the perfect time to immortalize his smirking face on canvas.

This is the same man who gave us the high-speed rail to nowhere, a project that’s become a black hole for taxpayer dollars without producing a single functioning mile of track. That boondoggle should’ve been enough to disqualify him from ever touching public funds again. But here we are, watching him double down on wasteful spending with the kind of confidence only a politician insulated from consequences can muster.

The portrait is part of a broader $20 million proposal to honor California’s living former governors. Twenty million dollars. Even some of Newsom’s fellow Democrats are calling this what it is: absurd. When your own party tells you to pump the brakes on spending, you know you’ve crossed a line. But Newsom isn’t running for reelection as governor, so why should he care what happens to California after he’s gone? He’s got bigger ambitions, apparently.

Here’s what gets me about this whole situation. We’re living in an era where DOGE and the Trump administration’s anti-fraud task force are exposing the staggering waste and fraud Democrats have enabled for years. These aren’t small potatoes. We’re talking about systematic abuse of taxpayer money on programs that wouldn’t pass muster in a high school economics class. And instead of learning from this exposure, instead of showing even a shred of fiscal responsibility, Newsom goes the opposite direction. He’s not hiding his waste. He’s advertising it.

Think about what $33,000 could actually do for California. That’s real money for real people. It could fund services that matter, support struggling families, or at least stay in the pockets of the taxpayers who earned it. But no, Newsom wants to make sure future generations remember what he looked like. As if anyone could forget the man who presided over California’s transformation from the Golden State into a cautionary tale about progressive governance.

The timing couldn’t be worse either. Democratic lawmakers in his own state are begging him to cut discretionary spending. The budget deficit isn’t some abstract number on a spreadsheet. It represents real consequences for real Californians who are already dealing with sky-high taxes, a cost of living crisis, and an exodus of businesses fleeing the state’s hostile regulatory environment. But Newsom wants his portrait.

This is what happens when politicians lose touch with the people they’re supposed to serve. They start believing their own press releases. They convince themselves that their legacy matters more than the fiscal health of their state. Newsom isn’t governing anymore. He’s auditioning for his next role, whatever that might be. Presidential candidate, maybe? Good luck selling fiscal responsibility on the national stage when you’re demanding a $33,000 vanity project while your state drowns in debt.

The conservative principle of limited government exists for exactly this reason. When you give politicians unlimited access to taxpayer money, they’ll find increasingly creative ways to waste it. A portrait doesn’t improve anyone’s life except the guy in the frame. It doesn’t fix roads, doesn’t fund schools, doesn’t make California safer or more prosperous. It’s pure ego, wrapped in the language of tradition and legacy.

California deserves better than this. Its taxpayers deserve a governor who respects their hard-earned money, who understands that every dollar taken from them should be spent with care and purpose. Instead, they got Gavin Newsom and his $33,000 smile.

American Conservatives