- Incoming Democratic-controlled Congress must deliver swift results demanded by American public, California governor tells Anadolu at COP31
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that the incoming Democratic-controlled US Congress must move swiftly to hold the Trump administration accountable and reverse some of its policies.
Speaking to Anadolu on the sidelines of the UN climate conference COP31 in Antalya, Newsom called for accountability over what he described as unprecedented corruption under the Trump administration, alongside efforts to reverse some of its policies.
“What we also have to do is we have to restore some trust, and that’s about accountability, to go after the corruption, the likes of which we’ve never seen in the history of our country,” he said.
Newsom argued that accountability efforts should proceed alongside legislative action.
“And that accountability needs to happen at the same time we get wins on the board and try to undo some of the most extreme excesses of the Trump administration,” he said.
Expressing confidence in the incoming Congress, Newsom said Democratic lawmakers would begin addressing these issues when they take office in January.
“I’m confident the Democratic Congress that will convene in January will begin that process with the kind of intensity and expectation that the American people have set,” he said.
“They want to see results. They want to see it quickly. And we’ve got to deliver them.”
Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the Nov. 3 midterm elections, taking majorities from Republicans in both chambers.
The results will give Democrats greater power to scrutinize the Trump administration, launch congressional investigations and challenge its legislative agenda when the new Congress convenes in January.
Newsom has also been at the center of a series of legal clashes with the Trump administration.
California has challenged several of the president’s policies in court, including his decision to federalize the state’s National Guard and deploy troops to Los Angeles in June 2025 amid protests against federal immigration raids.
The state argued that Trump had exceeded his authority by taking control of the Guard without the governor’s consent.
In October, a federal appeals court upheld a ruling blocking the deployment and ordering the Trump administration to return control of the National Guard to Newsom.
Asked whether he would run for US president, Newsom gave a brief response without ruling out a potential bid.
“We’ll see,” he said, without elaborating further.