Health Secretary Xavier Becerra testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement. (House Judiciary GOP / X)
"Can we afford to do it? That's where a governor has to decide... if we can’t afford it, we have to be realistic. If we can't afford it, how do we do it?" he added.
"But when you do the scrub… this is where it’s important, if you don’t have the dollars to do it, how do you do it? You need the money. California needs a balanced budget. You scrub it. If you find a way, you do it and don’t delay. But if you scrub it and you can’t figure out how to do it, then that’s the reality and that’s the choices we have," the former Biden official continued.
The overall Medi-Cal program was originally expected to cost $6 billion until a California budget official revealed that it’s projected to cost $9.5 billion this fiscal year. The governor’s office then asked for two separate loans, totaling $6.2 billion.
Newsom and Trump face off. (Pool)
"Even Jerry Brown refused to expand Medi-Cal to all illegal immigrants because he knew it was fiscally irresponsible and unsustainable," California Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones tweeted last month. "Now under Newsom, legal residents are paying the price both financially and in reduced access to healthcare. The public deserves answers: Why are the costs so much higher than what Newsom promised? What is Newsom’s plan to fix the financial disaster he created?"
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The 2026 California governor’s race is expected to be contentious, as Becerra, former Rep. Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis are already in the race on the Democratic side. Reports swirl that former Vice President Kamala Harris could make her comeback into politics after losing the 2024 election by running for governor. On the Republican side, Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco is currently in the race, and many others are expected to join him.
Cameron Arcand is a politics writer at Fox News Digital in Washington D.C. Story tips can be sent to Cameron.Arcand@Fox.com and on Twitter: @cameron_arcand
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