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Republican Congresswoman and CAL DOGE Director Jenny Rae Le Roux is criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta for failing to crack down on widespread fraud after her watchdog group uncovered dozens of cases she says state leaders ignored.
“Every day is a different day when it comes to Gavin Newsom and Rob Bonta,” Le Roux told Fox News Digital. “Whatever they say, I believe the exact opposite is true so when Gavin Newsom says fraud is under control, he's either in on it or he's not willing to do anything about it.”
“It's possible that they're not willing to do anything or they don't want to do it and they're just trying to investigate what they're already doing that way,” he added.
CALIFORNIA REPUBLICAN HOLDS NATIONAL COUNCIL ON HOSPITAL MANAGEMENT AS LOOKING TO SECURE BLUE SEAT.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom takes questions from the media after announcing that the state is suing the White House to restore SNAP funding before closing a news conference in Sacramento, Calif. (REUTERS/Fred Greaves)
California has been at the center of a national fraud spotlight in recent months as the Trump administration has sent resources to the state to look into alleged fraud ranging from health care to homelessness to nonprofits.
The CEO of a California hospice advocacy group told congressional lawmakers Tuesday that fraud in the industry is on the rise nationwide, questioning how many fraudulent providers can continue to operate under the noses of regulators.
“You'd be surprised how many hospices there are… a door you can walk into in California and nobody's there. Five-month-old mail you can see stacked… nobody's there,” said Sheila Clark, president and CEO of the California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA). “And that passed the poll. How did that happen?”
Le Roux said his party found what he described as “deliberate fraud” in Sacramento, saying the funds were being redirected to “building the Democrat base.” Cal DOGE is a group working to end waste, fraud, and abuse in California that was started in early 2026 by Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton.
The group says it has uncovered nearly $700 million in waste, fraud, and abuse since its inception.
“We've done better with a group of volunteers in the last 10 weeks than Gavin Newsom and Rob Bonta have since they've been in charge,” Le Roux said.
He added that Bonta's office wasted resources on legal battles against the Trump administration instead of focusing on fraud patterns his team identified using artificial intelligence and financial data.
“Rob Bonta's office bills more than 150,000 hours a year following President Trump's policies and the Trump administration's policies, which equates to nearly 200 attorney hours when you roll it out over the course of a year, which is one-sixth of his office, and bigger than the DOJ's office in California,” he said.
Le Roux, a cousin of Democratic Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger, launched her campaign in March and is running in the GOP primary for California's 47th District focused on anti-fraud.
“It just doesn't happen, it's a normal way of working, that's why the people who have been perpetrating this scam and the ones leading the cases, Newsom and Bonta, won't be the ones who will really investigate,” he said.
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In one example, he said his group found a case where $370 million in marijuana tax money was diverted to an attorney and split into smaller grants that went to unrelated programs. He pointed to systemic flaws, including the limited prosecution of funds “mostly under $1 million.”
“There is no monitoring, not a single report is required to explain where the money was spent,” he said.
As a result, he said the lack of oversight has contributed to an estimated $80 billion annually in “fraud, waste, or overpayments,” saying the problem is systemic.
Amid recent allegations of hospital fraud, Le Roux said stricter monitoring could have prevented the issue and prevented fraud. Newsom's office pushed back, saying the law falls to the federal government.
“These hospices that we are in the process of closing are now licensed by the state of California,” she said. “They should never have been opened. All the jobs that should have been run by the state of California were not possible so this is a California issue.”
He said his party is pressuring officials to prosecute fraud.
“Newsom is trying to get credit for doing nothing instead of being part of the changes in our state, which is what not only Republicans, but independents and Democrats want,” she said.
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California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that the state is suing the White House to restore SNAP funding before the close of a news conference in Sacramento. (Fred Greaves/Reuters)
However, he emphasized that the fraud extends beyond California.
“If money goes into California and nothing is checked, that is an American problem, not a California problem,” he said.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the offices of Newsom and Bonta for comment.
Newsom's office has generally responded to critics in recent weeks by saying the state “leads the nation in fraud prevention.”
“Since @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom took office: – $125 billion+ in fraud STOPPED – 1,200+ criminals ARRESTED – 83% reduction in EBT fraud in one year – New hospice licenses CLOSED starting in 2022,” Newsom's press office said. posted on X last month.
