If Newsom’s widely ridiculed debate performance punctured his presidential delusions, an announcement the following day from the state’s Legislative Analyst may have burst them entirely. California is now facing a $68 billion deficit. Other states have a surplus.

It’s so dire Newsom is telling agencies not to replace broken printers or re-stock office supplies. Workers are losing benefits and could face furloughs. This is all happening as the state spends billions on High-Speed Rail and expanding Medi-Cal to undocumented immigrants.

The flailing Governor, seeing his approval rating hit an all-time low, then threw out a Hail Mary. In perhaps his most absurd statement ever, he tried to tout California as a low-tax state. I wrote a full post about the incredible depth of Newsom’s dishonesty here.

Meanwhile, in a speech on the House Floor titled A Moment of Reckoning, I set forth 10 principles for overhauling our wayward universities. Among them: protect free speech, stop indoctrinating students, abolish DEI, eliminate foreign funding, and teach real subjects.

This comes as our hearing last week is now the most viewed congressional testimony in history. (My own questioning was even quoted by Dr. Phil). Yet incredibly, Harvard – unlike Penn – is refusing to fire its President. I lit into my alma mater for 90 seconds on the House Floor.

In a way, this year has come full circle. At our first Judiciary hearing, I called out Adam Schiff for trying to remove a university free speech protection. (I continued to wrangle with Schiff all year, including his notorious "will the gentleman yield" interruption at the Durham hearing.)

Finally, the field in our race is set. Newsom staffer Jessica Morse is our sole Democrat opponent. In an irony you couldn’t make up, another Democrat who’s been running against me all year dropped out and moved to Virginia because of the "insurmountable" cost-of-living in California.

Kevin Kiley