California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced he will commute the death sentences of all 548 prisoners on the state’s death row to life without the possibility of parole, according to an open letter to Californians. The outgoing governor can finalize roughly 40% of the commutations on his own, but the rest require approval from the California Supreme Court before his term ends in January, according to the Los Angeles Times. Newsom asked the justices to weigh in on 382 of the cases. Newsom, a Democrat eyeing a 2028 presidential bid, framed the move as a matter of conscience. “I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values,” the term-limited governor wrote. He argued the death penalty erodes the legal system and diminishes the state. ["Killing is incompatable with California's values" Except for abortion!] Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) described the Republican Party’s election wipeout on Tuesday night as Democrats regained the majority in the House and Senate as being “close to an extinction level event.” During a press conference in Tallahassee on Wednesday, DeSantis spoke about how Florida’s rival, Texas, “lost everything,” from Texas Democrat James Talarico winning the U.S. Senate race, to Gov. Greg Abbott (R) being defeated by Texas State Rep. Gina Hinojosa (D). “Let’s just be clear about what happened last night: This is close to an extinction level event for Republicans in many parts of the country, as we have seen probably in the last hundred years,” DeSantis said. “In January, when everyone in office leaves, who are either term-limited or got voted out, of the 10 largest states in this union, only one state will have Republican control of their state — the state of Florida.” DeSantis continued to state that over the course of his lifetime, “Texas has been the crown jewel of Republican politics.” “And yet, not only did they lose a very highly publicized U.S. Senate race, they lost everything. The governor, attorney general, all the other statewide, they lost four Republican Supreme Court justices on the Texas Supreme Court, they may even lose the Texas legislature — or one House or even both. Let’s just be clear, that is going to hurt, not just for the next two years, that’s something that can reverberate for the next decade or more. And, if the Republican Party doesn’t have Texas as an anchor, we are not going to be viable nationally going forward.” Business interests are wasting no time in demanding the next Congress pass a mass amnesty for illegal aliens after Democrats swept with historic victories in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The day after the midterms, officials with the American Business Immigration Coalition sent out statements urging the future Democrat-controlled House and Senate to work with the Trump administration on passing a mass amnesty for most of the nation’s 11 to 22 million illegal aliens, as well as a halt on interior immigration enforcement at worksites. “The 2026 election results sent a clear message: millions of Hispanic, independent, and rural voters joined Americans across the country in punishing Republicans over mass deportations and high costs, and that led to the House of Representatives flipping to Democrats, and losses for Republicans in Texas, North Carolina and Georgia,” the group’s CEO Rebecca Shi said. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s commutation of 548 death row inmates has sparked blowback from district attorneys across the state — and the massive clemency order by the outgoing governor may be easier said than done. Prosecutors across the state were “furious over the decision and began highlighting murder victims,” the California Post reported Thursday, citing criminals ranging from child murderers to a notorious serial killer. “Governor Newsom just told the families of Rachel Newhouse, Aundria Crawford, Kesha Gurke, and every other innocent victim of California’s 548 condemned killers that the killers’ lives matter more,” Dan Dow, the district attorney for San Luis Obispo County, said in a statement posted on Instagram. He continued, “Juries chose justice case by case, voters chose it five times, and one outgoing governor tried to erase it all with a pen,” the statement continued. However, there is a legal hurdle the term-limited Democratic governor’s clemency order has to overcome. The state’s Constitution bars commutations of anyone twice convicted of a felony unless the California Supreme Court recommends it with four justices concurring. A whopping 382 of the 548 death row inmates qualify for that exception, according to the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office. Ostensibly, if each case were given a thorough review, the state Supreme Court staff could be buried in paperwork for some time to come. “Clemency is an extraordinary power intended to provide relief when the facts and circumstances of an individual case justify it,” said Greg Totten, CEO of California District Attorneys Association, in a statement quoted by the California outlet. He continued, “It was never intended to serve as a substitute for the legislative process or to allow one elected official to effectively nullify hundreds of jury verdicts simply because he disagrees with the law...." Anne Marie Schubert, a former district attorney who now leads the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, told the California tabloid that her group will legally challenge the governor’s order. President Donald Trump announced that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller will take over the role of White House Chief of Staff starting November 9. In a post on Truth Social, shared that current White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles “will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation.” “I am pleased to announce that Mr. Stephen Miller, the current Deputy Chief of Staff of the Trump Administration, and one of the most trusted advisors, will become the Chief of Staff starting Monday, November 9, 2026,” Trump said. “Susie Wiles, who has done an outstanding job, will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation. I want to thank her for her service as Chief of Staff — She has done a great job!”
Newsom Moves to Commute All 548 California Death Sentences to Life:
DeSantis: Republicans’ Election Wipeout Is ‘Close to an Extinction Level Event’
Business Interests Start Demanding Mass Amnesty for Illegal Aliens After Democrats Sweep Midterms:
Gavin Newsom’s Mass Commutation of Death Row Inmates Faces Legal Battle, Pushback from Prosecutors:
Trump Announces Stephen Miller Will Take Over as Chief of Staff:
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